Small world, I guess.
The last Wednesday in July, I met a man who said his name was B.J.
He was hanging out on the fringe of an audience of 300 at the Skiffle Minstrels’ concert at Johnson Park. Attired in grunge fashions – checked shirt, tattered jeans and scuffed cowboy boots — B.J. bummed a cigarette from a bystander and listened quietly to the Western swing tunes like “Fort Worth Jailhouse” — just a tall, lanky loner with a scruffy beard and tattered ball cap.
I’d never seen him before. He was clearly from out of town, and I thought I’d never see him again.
But on Monday, Aug. 3, there he was in living color on surveillance video that showed him robbing Nichol’s Discount Liquors at 301 First St., shortly before 2 p.m. that afternoon.
B.J. had pulled a bottle of Canadian Mist off the shelf and approached cashier John MacKenzie.
“He said he needed $150 for drugs, and he showed me a knife he had under his shirt,” John said. “It happened real fast.”
MacKenzie handed over a few bills, and B.J. picked up the booze, exited the store and walked down Vine Street toward Onondaga Lake Park.
“I think that stuff about drugs might’ve just been a cover,” MacKenzie said. “I think he needed the money to buy a bus ticket.”
Liverpool police responded within two minutes and alerted park rangers, but B.J. remained at large. Anyone with information can call Liverpool police at 457-0753, ext. 5.
Cold case lingers
Believe it or not, this summer the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office has reportedly renewed its efforts to find the person or persons who murdered Mark Clark here more than seven years ago.
The body of 39-year-old Mark A. Clark, a local toy collector, was found on the morning of Monday, April 21, 2008, in his upstairs bedroom at a rental property at 109 Cleveland St., in the village. First responder to the scene was Officer Joe Scordo of the Liverpool Police Department.
Clark had apparently been killed by a shotgun blast.
Sunshine State beckons
Liverpool Police Department part-time Officer Fred Brough has resigned and plans to move to Smyrna Beach, Fla., at the end of this month. Fred, who was raised in Liverpool, is a veteran of the Syracuse Police Department where he worked on the K-9 unit.
Stott on South Side
Assembly hopeful David Stott, a former Salina town councilor, led a South Side clean-up effort on Saturday, Aug. 8. Neighbors met the Democratic candidate at Danforth Middle School on Brighton Avenue in Syracuse and used picking tools provided by Home Depot to de-litter the area.
More than three dozen people joined the effort, Stott said. “We picked up momentum as we went along,” he said. “People jumped right in to help. We collected 30 bags of garbage.”
Stott served one term as Onondaga County Legislator from our Fourth District in 2008-09, before losing in 2009 and 2011 to Republican Judy Tassone.
Now Stott’s waging an uphill battle for the 128th District Assembly seat against Syracuse Common Councilors Pamela Hunter and Jean Kessner, two prominent city Democrats also vying for seat vacated last month by Sam Roberts, who left to take a job as New York state’s next commissioner of temporary and disability assistance.
So far, no Republicans have expressed interest, and why would they? Registered Democrats in the 128th outnumber Republicans 36,518 to 19,625.
The primary election, which will essentially decide our next assembly representative, is Sept. 10.
White Water grows quieter
Have you noticed that the White Water Pub at 110 S. Willow St. no longer presents live music? But the pub continues its daily $7 food specials which include a draft beer. For info, call 314-7398 or visit whitewaterpubliverpool.com, just don’t bother to click on the blank Music Calendar.
Shake-up at Empire
Empire Sub Shop at 510 Oswego St. in the village, is preparing to change its name to Heartland Subs. Empire’s primary owner, Bill Greene Jr. from the world-famous Oswego Sub Shop, will welcome new co-owner Bob Natoli (from Pacific Health Club) when the switch is made to Heartland.
The columnist can be contacted at [email protected].
