The Niagara Falls, N.Y., man who allegedly caused a Labor Day crash that killed his wife will not be prosecuted in McKean County Court.
Henri Laisola, 33, instead pleaded guilty to four traffic summary offenses in the Magisterial District Court of David Engman in September, 17 days after the accident where Hannah Laisola, 32, was fatally injured.
The traffic summaries were careless driving-unintentional death, for which he was fined $587; duties at a stop sign, for which he was fined $112; failure to use a safety belt, for which he was fined $97; and obedience to traffic control devices, for which he was fined $192, according to Engman.
According to Lewis Run-based state police at the time of the crash, a vehicle driven by Henri Laisola was traveling west on Route 59 at the intersection with Route 219 when his vehicle failed to stop at the posted stop sign. His vehicle entered the intersection and hit a van, driven south on Route 219 by Talal Ahmed, 40, of Sterling, Va., who was traveling with one adult passenger and three children passengers, under the age of six. As a result of the impact, the van struck a concrete wall located off the roadway on private property before coming to a final rest.
Both Henri and Hannah Laisola were flown from the scene by medical helicopter to ECMC in Buffalo. She died later the same day.
Recently in McKean County Court, an Eldred man who shot toward state police in a standoff was sentenced to serve time in the custody of the state Department of Corrections for assault.
Christopher S. Eaton, 35, of Eldred, was sentenced in September to 16 months to 36 months in state prison with credit for 238 days of time served, and will serve two years of consecutive probation, on charges of aggravated assault and fleeing or attempting to elude an officer.
As part of his sentence, he shall have no contact with Trooper Schauman or Trooper Shaffer and not be on the premises of any state police barracks except for legitimate law enforcement purposes.
According to the criminal complaint, Jan. 30, state police were dispatched to 1262 Prentisvale Road in Eldred Township to check on the welfare of Eaton.
Troopers arrived on the scene and pulled into the driveway. They exited their vehicle and heard Eaton yelling from inside the residence to get back in their truck and leave, the complaint stated. Eaton continued yelling and fired a shot out the second-story window in the direction of the troopers. The troopers got back in their vehicle and left the driveway. Eaton began barricading himself inside the residence as more state troopers began to arrive.
He sent a message to a relative that he was going to “have a shootout with police.” He eventually came out of the house, got in a vehicle while carrying a firearm and drove east on Prentisvale Road, with troopers in pursuit. The pursuit ended at 625 West Eldred Road in Eldred Township, where Eaton ultimately surrendered peacefully, the complaint stated.
Terri D. Burdick, 54, of Smethport, entered a guilty plea to two counts, out of the original 120 charges, of aggravated cruelty to animals — causing serious bodily injury or death, and cruelty to animals. The remaining 118 counts were dismissed in consideration of the plea. She is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Jan. 12.
The criminal complaint stated that in December of 2019, Lewis Run-based state police executed a search warrant at Burdick’s Bordell Road property due to a report of animal cruelty allegations.
According to the complaint, troopers found there was no accessible food or water for any of the animals on the property, which included multiple dogs and cats inside the residence, along with other animals on the property. The troopers found a dead horse, two dead chickens and a dead cat, as well as multiple other animals in unclean and unsanitary conditions.
All of the animals seized from the property needed veterinarian care from medical issues caused by the living conditions, the complaint read.
Scott F. Miller, 21, of Rixford, was sentenced in August to 6 to 18 months in McKean County Jail, with work release status and a 15-year registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. He is to have no unsupervised contact with juveniles under the age of 18 except for siblings. He had pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault 4-8 years older and to child pornography.
Armando Aponte, 41, of Bradford, entered a guilty plea in November to charges of aggravated assault — extreme indifference and terroristic threats. Sentencing has been set for Jan. 12 at 1 p.m. He has a second case pending in county court, on charges of aggravated assault and simple assault. A “last day to plea” hearing has been set in that case for Feb. 2.
