Police recover stolen goods
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

After charging four Amherst youths with possessing stolen items valued at more than $8,000, Amherst police are trying to find the property owners.

"There is a lot of property here," Capt. Timothy Green said.

Following several reports of auto larcenies, police tracked down four youths after a five-hour search ending at 6 a.m. Sept. 5, Green said.

After interviewing the four suspects, police searched a Greencastle Lane house where items totaling thousands of dollars were recovered.

Green said a final tally of the items is not available, but he suspects the total amount is $8,000-$10,000.

Recovered items include 15 sets of golf clubs, a guitar, sports equipment, car radios, iPods, camping equipment and tools.

Charged were Brian Chick, of Greencastle Lane; Evan Mann, of Casey Road; Shaun Goldsmith, of Brook Court; and Ed Antalik, of Greengage Circle. All are 16.

Each teen faces charges of felony conspiracy, criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny. Mann, Goldsmith and Antalik are also charged with burglary.

Police first started searching for a vehicle after a call at 1:30 a.m. Sept. 5 from a Summershade Drive residence reporting a car larceny. Supplied with a vehicle description and license plate number, police searched the area.

Following a 6 a.m. call about a car larceny on San Rafael Court, police located the vehicle in question and interviewed the four teens. Inside the vehicle were items allegedly stolen that night.

"We backtracked to Greencastle Lane and found an overwhelming amount of property," Green said, adding that the majority of the property was recovered in the garage of the residence.

Green said the department is now sorting through open burglary and larceny reports to determine if any of the missing goods have been recovered. Anyone who would like to inquire about missing property and can identify the good(s), should call the property officer at 689-1388.

In addition to its own investigation, Amherst police are working with the Erie County Sheriff's Department on a possible connection to burglaries on Transit Road in Clarence and surrounding areas.

The four teens were released after appearing before Judge Geoffrey K. Klein. They will return to court on Sept. 14.