PLANE CRASH VICTIM HAD A CRIMINAL PAST

The man who died in a plane crash last month at the Adirondack Regional Airport had assumed another identity for more than 15 years in an attempt to escape what police say was a criminal past.

State Police investigator Larry Cragle says the Saranac Lake man who friends and loved ones knew as 49 year-old Scott Thomas has been tentatively identified through his fingerprints as Phillip W. Cook.

“He definitely changed his name to hide,” Cragle said.  “He didn’t legally change his name.  He assumed another identity in an attempt to avoid a criminal past.”

Cragle wouldn’t say specifically what kind of criminal activity Cook had been involved in, but he said they are working with authorities in Colorado as part of the investigation.

The mystery began after police and investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board began to comb through the wreckage of Cook’s 1968 twin-engine Beechcraft Baron.  The plane crashed while taking off from the Lake Clear airport April 18.  Cook was the only person on board.

An NTSB report states that “membership cards, credit cards, the pilot’s website and friends identified the name of the pilot,” apparently referring to Thomas.

But there were no FAA pilot licenses or other records under that name.

State Police then used the pilot’s fingerprints and tentatively identified him as Phillip W. Cook, who held an FAA commercial pilot’s certificate for single engine planes.  He also held a flight instructor’s certificate for single engine planes that expired in 1978 and an FAA medical certificate that was issued in 1981.

Cragle said they determined that Cook began using the name Scott Thomas around 1992, when he moved to New York to be with his companion Dorothy Dercole.  “Scott Thomas wasn’t his real name,” Cragle said.  “A lot of people knew him only as Scott Thomas and had no clue” that he was really someone else.

Police say that even Cook’s girlfriend, Dorothy Dercole, says she didn’t know his real identity or that he had a criminal history.

Cook had also been able to obtain credit cards and even a social security number under his assumed name – something police are continuing to investigate.

The news came as a shock to Lorraine Carter, the director of a Beechcraft museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee where Scott Thomas had served as a trustee.  “We had no idea,” Carter said, adding that she had only known Thomas since the museum opened in 2003. 

In the wreckage of the crash, police also found $60,000 in cash in a suitcase.  But Cragle said they don’t believe the money was obtained illegally or was going to be used illegally.  Cook’s girlfriend told police he was traveling to an air show and planned to use the money to purchase parts to further refurbish and restore his plane.

There’s one other inconsistency in the NTSB report – the pilot had filed a flight plan for a trip to Fitchburg, Massachusetts.  But one of the witnesses to the crash, a line service technician at the airport, told investigators that the pilot said he was flying to Minnesota and then California.

Cragle says it’s probably just a case of Cook not wanting people to know where he’s going. 

He says it’s a unique case.  “I haven’t dealt with anything like this before,” Cragle said.  “There’s probably more people out there like this than you know.  We’re so rural in this area that you can buy a piece of property in the middle of nowhere and just blend in.”

The police investigation is continuing.

As for the investigation of the plane crash, the NTSB’s Paul Cox said once the final report is completed, the information will be sent to Washington, D.C. where a five-member board will issue its determination on the probable cause of the crash.  “The whole process could take up to a year,” he said.

ALL SCHOOL BUDGETS PASS IN TRI-LAKES

Voters across the Tri-Lakes region went to the polls on Tuesday and approved the budgets for their respective school districts.

In Saranac Lake, the district’s $25.8 million budget was approved with 464 votes in favor and 363 against. 

Superintendent Scott Amo said he was pleased with the support from the voters. “It’s a budget that I think, and our board believes, is fiscally responsible,” he said. “The 3.83 percent spending increase compared to the contingency budget that we would have had to consider was so close.  It made the passage of this budget both an endorsement for the work everyone has put into it while being conscious of the taxpayers abilities to pay for the school services.”

Voters in the Saranac Lake School District also elected a new school board member on Tuesday.  Tracey Schrader collected 504 votes and unseated one-term incumbent Linda Piro who had 432 votes.

Schrader was excited to hear the results. “I’m extremely happy,” she said.  “Hopefully I can serve the community and learn all about the education process.  I’m ready to tackle the job.”

Schrader attributed her success to her friends and supporters, and to her active involvement in the school district.

Piro was praised by School Board President Miles Van Nortwick for her dedication to the district and the community. “Linda’s been a very integral of many tough issues – the repairs to these buildings and numerous other controversial and non-controversial issues.  And we will miss her.  But we do look forward to Tracey’s joining the board.”

A pair of propositions on the ballot were also approved – an additional levy of $120,000 for the Saranac Lake Free Library received 587 votes in favor and 353 against.  And a proposition allowing a student to join the school board as a non-voting member was ok’d by a count of 649 to 283.

In Tupper Lake voters overwhelmingly supported the $15.4 million budget with 317 in favor and just 48 against. Acting Superintendent Mike Hunsinger was pleased with the support. “I believe that’s the lowest no vote since I’ve been here,” he said.

Hunsinger praised the governor and state Legislature for addressing fairness when it comes to formulating aid for districts in the state. “The state has done what’s been needed,” he said.

A proposition asking voters to support a school bus replacement program was approved 303 in favor to 50 opposed.

And there were two unopposed school board candidates, Dan Mansfield and Dawn Hughes, who were elected to three year terms.

In Lake Placid, the school district’s $14.6 million budget was approved with 369 in favor and 215 against.

Superintendent Ernest Stretton thanked the voters for their support.  (news4)  “We’re very pleased that they came out and supported the budget,” he said.  “This will benefit students, staff and both communities well into the future and we’re very appreciative of their support.”

Three candidates were in the running for two seats on the Lake Placid School Board.  Incumbent Janet Smith collected 455 votes, Bernie Roy received 362 and Jim McCulley 258. 

The voters also approved the lease of three buses by a count of 371 to 155.

Voters approved all public school budgets in Franklin, Essex and Clinton Counties yesterday.

PERRYMAN SUES VILLAGE OVER HIS TERMINATION

The Saranac Lake Village Board met behind closed doors Monday night to discuss a lawsuit filed against the village by former police chief Donald Perryman Jr.

Mayor Tom Michael said the executive session was an opportunity for the board to discuss how they plan to respond to Perryman’s Article 78 petition.  “It just came in on Friday,” he said.  “We’re just doing all the preliminary stuff at this point.”

Perryman was fired by the village board in January based on the recommendation of hearing officer Robert Hite.  Hite had reviewed events surrounding an October 2005 car crash involving a pair of village police officers and found Perryman engaged in “willful, deceitful conduct” in an attempt to cover up the incident.

But Perryman’s lawsuit claims the board’s decision to terminate him was “arbitrary and capricious.”  The litigation says the village board spent too little time reviewing the recommendations of the hearing officer and the transcripts of Perryman’s hearing to be able to make a decision on “an independent basis.”

But Trustee John McEneany says he reviewed all the materials before voting in favor of terminating Perryman. 

He said he wasn’t surprised by the lawsuit.  “We kind of knew this could be coming,” McEneany said.  “It’s very frustrating, but everybody has the right to access the due process available to them.”

Tom Michael said he was equally frustrated.  “You’re trying to move things forward and you have to continually deal with historical things,” he said.  “When you spend money on something like this, its money that doesn’t go towards services in the community or improving things in the community.”

Those named as defendants in the lawsuit include the mayor and the current village board along with ex-board members Jeff Branch and Jim Ammon and former mayor Tom Catillaz.  Other defendants include Robert Hite, the hearing officer, Village Manager John Sweeney, Village Clerk Kareen Tyler and Lori Cantwell, the Plattsburgh attorney who handled the case for the village.

The lawsuit, which seeks to overturn the board’s decision to fire Perryman, was filed in State Supreme Court in Warren County.

Perryman’s attorney, Marsha Purdue of Glens Falls, has yet to return several messages left at her office. 

Michael said the village hasn’t decided who will handle their defense.  Cantwell handled the case for the village but can’t be involved now because she’s named as a defendant.

Another lawsuit Perryman filed against the village, stemming from a failed attempt to oust him in 2001, is still pending.

NCCC GRADUATION THIS WEEKEND

State Assemblywoman Janet Duprey will deliver the commencement address to students receiving degrees during graduation ceremonies this weekend at North Country Community College.

The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Sparks Athletic Complex on the Saranac Lake campus.

Also speaking will be NCCC President, Dr. Gail Rogers Rice; College Board of Trustees Chairman John Friedlander; Alumni President Tammi Lalande; and Student Trustee Kirsten Jubin. The presentation of the graduates to the Board of Trustees will be led by Grand Marshall Peter Biesemeyer.

The number of graduates to be awarded degrees will be 304, with a total of 307 degrees and certificates handed out. North Country offers an Associate in Arts degree, Associate in Science degree and an Associate in Applied Science degree. One-year certificates in Office Technology, Community Residence Aide, and Practical Nursing will also be awarded.

A special addition to the ceremony will be the presentation of a new ceremonial mace to the college from the Alumni Association in recognition of the 40th anniversary of North Country’s chartering.

Handicapped parking will be reserved at the gymnasium complex for guests requiring special accommodations. Both the commencement and reception areas are handicapped accessible. A shuttle service will be running from the front door of Hodson Hall to the Sparks Athletic Complex, departing every 20 minutes beginning at 10 a.m.  After the ceremony, the same transportation will be available to bring people up the hill to the reception in the Connector.

North Country Community College, sponsored by Essex and Franklin counties, is a unit of the State University of New York with campuses in Malone, Ticonderoga and Saranac Lake.

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN MOOERS MURDER CASE

State Police say a man from Nova Scotia is being held in connection to the killing of Darcy Manor in Mooers.

At a press conference late Tuesday afternoon, police said 26-year-old Glen Race was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol in the Brownsville, Texas area after unsuccessfully attempting to flee across the Mexican border.

Race was allegedly in possession of the .44 caliber rifle that was stolen from the camp where the 35 year-old Manor was found dead Friday.

State Police Captain Robert LaFountain said, “Race is our suspect in the homicide of Darcy Manor.”

Race had apparently been a suspect since last weekend, but police would not say what led them to him, or what motive there may have been for the murder.

And Manor's 1992 teal Ford F-250 truck, is still missing.

A team of investigators have been sent to Texas.  Police are seeking extradition of Race back to New York.

POLICE REPORT

Lake Placid Police arrested an 18 year-old youthful offender from Lake Clear on May 9 at 9:27 p.m. on an arrest warrant for unlawful possession of marijuana. Patrol stopped the teen for a vehicle and traffic violation and discovered the defendant had two warrants out of the Village of Saranac Lake.  During the arrest the subject was found in possession of a marijuana-smoking device. The 18 year-old was released to Saranac Lake Police and will appear in Lake Placid Village Court at a later date.

A South Glens Falls man was arrested by Lake Placid Police at 5:55 p.m. Tuesday and charged with two counts of second-degree harassment. 45 year-old Bruce A. Sumner turned himself into Lake Placid Police after being advised there was warrant out for his arrest. He was subsequently charged with a second count stemming from a similar incident. Sumner was arraigned in village court and released to appear in court at a later date.