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One dead, another injured...
Police shoot at two armed gunmen in Monticello
By TOM RUE
MONTICELLO - Unrelated police-involved shootings left one man dead and another in critical condition last week.
Douglas J. LePera, 31, of 11 Rose Tree Acres on Anawana Lake Rd. was shot on December 27 by Dep. Donald Scribner after Scribner came to the bungalow colony in response to a report of a man threatening other residents with a weapon.
When LePera refused repeated requests to lower a loaded rifle pointed at his stomach, Scribner fired and disarmed him. LePera was hospitalized at Community General Hospital.
Undersheriff Dan Hogue called the incident "a righteous shooting."
When the second incident, which occurred on December 30, ended, Charles S. Brickhouse Jr., 21, lay dead. The incident aroused anger in the black community.
Brickhouse was allegedly tracked from the scene of an attempted robbery.
Ballistics testing, expected to confirm whether the bullet was fired by police Solomon or by a perhaps desperate, depressed Brickhouse, was not available on Monday, according to the District Attorney's office.
"Information will be released when the time is appropriate," an employee at the DA's office said on Monday morning.
A mostly black audience of 75 or more packed the basement of the Monticello Neighborhood Facility on a frigid New Years Eve, the night after the shooting. NAACP president Thomas Mack led the discussion.
Chief Michael Brennan told what he knew about the events which led up to Brickhouse's death. Brennan, who was at training for several months at the FBI Academy, graduated on Dec. 12 and recently returned, he said.
In the late morning of Dec. 30, Brennan said, two reports were received that shots had been fired at 42 Wood Ave. One caller said bullets had come through his door. That individual was arrested two days later, at Broadway bar, for criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Lt. William Lazarus, Solomon, and Officer Ronald Lindholm responded, Brennan went on. Upon arriving, they were reportedly told that the shooter had left on foot, toward Monticello St. Officers followed the suspect's steps in the fresh snow, to 18 Wood Ave.
A trail of wet prints led to an upstairs apartment, Brennan said. Solomon yelled, "If you're up there come on down!" Getting no response, Solomon proceeded up the stairs, weapon drawn, Brennan said.
Suddenly the young man ducked from around a corner and fired. Solomon returned two shots, which Brennan said is consistent with police training.
Then all was quiet.
Solomon exited, radioed headquarters that the suspect had shot at him and asked for backup. Lindholm circled to the rear of the house while Solomon stayed out front, Brennan said.
Solomon later found that one of the bullets had passed through the fabric of his trousers by his upper thigh. "For some reason it didn't hit him. I still can't understand why it didn't hit him. It was miraculous," Brennan said.
Brickhouse's mother, Shirley Bickham of Middletown, pled through a bullhorn for her son to come out. He didn't answer.
After several hours, still believing Brickhouse might be barricaded in the upper floor, police in flack-jackets broke in and found him dead in a bathroom, gun in hand.
A man in the audience asked why a canine at the scene wasn't sent upstairs rather than an armed policeman. Brennan claimed it was still unknown whether there was in fact anyone upstairs. Ambrose Wotorson said he was told by a witness that a police administrator on the scene was asked why didn't he send the dog up. The alleged reply was, "We don't want the dog to get shot."
"The life of a dog is worth more than the life of a black man," a black man shouted. "For the death of my son, I'd murder one of them police," another replied. Rev. Willy Smith of Monticello closed the meeting with a prayer for peace and clear thinking rather than violence.
"I think that the police officer did absolutely nothing wrong in this situation," Brennan opined, adding that investigations are underway by District Attorney Stephen Lungen and state police. Some audience members scoffed at "the white man investigating the white man," as one put it.
Jesse York, president of the Sullivan County Million Man March Community Action Organization, blamed the fatality on Brennan. "It's time for a change. They need to change the chief of police," York exclaimed, as audience members applauded.
Describing Solomon as "one of the better officers" in Monticello's department, York blamed Brennan for alleged poor tactics in the decision to send Solomon tracking Brickhouse's wet footprints up the stairs. Brennan urged waiting for the results of investigations before passing judgment.
Brickhouse's remains were taken from the scene by VanInwegen-Kenny Funeral Home, which is owned and operated by Monticello mayor James Kenny. Funeral services were scheduled for January 6th at the 1st Baptist Church, pastor Jessica Pryce officiating. Burial was at Rock Ridge Cemetery.
An autopsy was performed at Community General Hospital by Dr. Barbara Wolf, a well-known pathologist, according to Brennan, whom he noted is affiliated with Dr. Michael Badin. Wolf and Badin were among the experts retained by OJ Simpson to analyze a pair of bloody socks and other key evidence in that murder trial, according to court transcripts available on the Internet, where she is described as a criminologist employed by the New York State Police in Albany.
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