By DIANE VALDEN
COPAKE—A sleeping man likely owes his life to the actions of two Sheriff’s deputies, who woke him up and got him out of a burning building.
According to a press release from Columbia County Sheriff Donald J. Krapf, Deputies Timothy Gladwin and Cody Falkner were on routine patrol in the Town of Hillsdale, August 18 at 2:10 a.m., when they monitored Columbia County 911 dispatching the Copake Fire Department and the Community Rescue Squad to a reported working structure fire at 1662 County Route 7A (Church Street), next door to the post office in the Town of Copake. The deputies immediately responded to the fire location and notified County 911 that they were en route.
Upon arrival at the residence, the deputies found a two-story apartment building with one of the bottom-floor apartments engulfed in flames and smoke throughout the structure visible on footage captured by the deputies’ body cam. They quickly started helping to evacuate the occupants, even assisting people out of a window.
Deputies asked the residents if anyone else was in the building, and one tenant from an upstairs apartment mentioned that they had knocked on the door of the other upstairs apartment when leaving but didn’t receive a response. The tenant believed that someone might still be in that apartment.
The deputies entered the building and went upstairs to the apartment, where the subject was believed to still be inside. They knocked on the door, didn’t receive a response, and immediately forced entry into the apartment. They located a lone occupant asleep in his bedroom and helped him out of the apartment and down the stairs to safety. Once it was confirmed that no one else was in the building, deputies ensured that EMS personnel on the scene treated any occupants needing medical assistance. They also assisted one of the elderly occupants with contacting family members to come and assist her.
The building, which once served as the office of Dr. Robert Bowerhan and later the law office of Bertram Siegeltuch, remains standing but is boarded up. Sheriff’s Office Captain Kevin Skype told The Columbia Paper that the fire was deemed accidental in nature.
Deputy Gladwin and Deputy Falkner acted selflessly and without hesitation to assist all occupants of the apartment building to safety. Their quick action and bravery undoubtedly prevented a tragedy, as they were able to rescue an individual who the smoke detectors or previous rescue attempts had not awakened, the release said.
“We hear about these types of incidents every day and the loss of life due to house fires. If it were not for the quick action of our two deputies, this could have been another one of those tragic events. The courageous actions of Deputy Gladwin and Deputy Falkner prevented the loss of life and injury at this structure fire. This was outstanding police work, and without a doubt, these men are heroes. They exemplify what it is to be a deputy sheriff. I am exceptionally proud to have them as members of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Krapf said in the release.
Ghent firefighters, Chatham firefighters were dispatched with Greenport Rescue for a tractor trailer rollover with the driver trapped at 1209 Route 217 between Schnackenberg Road and the town line, August 28 at 1:13 p.m. The driver’s arm was pinned under the cab and was lightly pinned between the seat and steering wheel, according to the Ghent Fire Company’s Facebook page. Fire and rescue crews were aided by a wrecker from Speed’s Garage to help lift the cab from the driver. A landing zone was set up just west of the scene for a Life Net helicopter, which took the driver to Albany Med. Philmont Fire was requested to close the roadway to the west. Also on scene were State Police, NYSEG, Columbia County Fire Coordinators office, County Highway, NYS DOT, and Hillsdale Repair handled the vehicle recovery operations. Firefighters were back in service at 4:06 p.m. Photo courtesy of Ghent Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 Facebook Page
Kreutzer found guilty of attempted murder
HUDSON—A Livingston woman who went to a Town of Gallatin home and opened fire upon a State trooper in November 2020 was found guilty of three felonies including attempted murder and one misdemeanor following a week-and-a-half jury trial in Columbia County Court before Judge E. Danielle Jose-Decker, according to a press release from the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.
Madison Kreutzer, 38, was found guilty August 29, of second degree attempted murder, a class B felony; first degree reckless endangerment, a D felony; first degree criminal trespass, a D felony, and prohibitions on the use and possession of a firearm, a misdemeanor. She is scheduled to be sentenced December 5 and faces a sentence of 5 to 25 years.
“We are gratified by the jury’s verdict and pleased to achieve justice for retired Zone Sgt. Paul Strobel. The jury sent a clear message that you do not shoot at police. I commend Chief Assistant Cheryl Botts for her work on this case,” said District Attorney Chris Liberati-Conant in the release. The DA led the prosecution along with Ms. Botts.
“We want to thank the State Police for all of their support during the preparation for, and prosecution of this case. We could not have achieved this result without them,” Ms. Botts said in the release.
Ms. Kreutzer was remanded to the Columbia County Jail to await sentencing.
