By June Mercer | Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Town of Poughkeepsie: State Clears Officers in Fatal 2025 Shooting
The state Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation has cleared the Town of Poughkeepsie officers involved in the death of Brian Czornyj, concluding in a report released Wednesday that a prosecutor could not disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of deadly physical force was justified under New York law. Czornyj died on June 5, 2025, after officers answered a 911 call at a home on Fair Oaks Drive, where police say he had struck his father and a member of a Mental Health America of Dutchess County mobile crisis team with a sword. Officers ordered him repeatedly to drop the sword before one officer shot him, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Dutchess County: Legislature Votes to Shut Down Flock Cameras
The Dutchess County Legislature voted Tuesday to require the county's Flock license plate reading cameras to be deactivated and removed, citing privacy concerns and reports of the systems being misused elsewhere in the country and by federal immigration authorities. Sheriff Kirk Imperati and District Attorney Anthony Parisi had already agreed to pull the cameras, and the resolution now goes to County Executive Sue Serino for approval. Supporters warned the cameras could be used to target residents and undermine trust in law enforcement. The vote lands days after a Rhinebeck man, John K. Coleman, 26, was charged with felony criminal mischief and arson for allegedly setting a Flock camera on fire along Route 9, sparking a brush fire.
Route 9: Six Miles of Paving Starts Next Week
Drivers on Route 9 have a warning coming. Tilcon New York will mill and resurface about six miles of the road through the Town of Poughkeepsie, the city, and Hyde Park, from Spackenkill Road to Dorsey Lane, under a state Department of Transportation contract. Preliminary work begins the week of October 19, mostly at night, with lane closures only during work hours. The job is expected to run four to eight weeks this fall, pause for the winter, and be completed by September 30, 2027, adding to the congestion from the ongoing Mid-Hudson Bridge work.
That is Wednesday's blotter: a state ruling closing a fatal 2025 case, a county vote ending the license plate camera program, and six miles of Route 9 about to get slower before they get smoother.
