The City of Troy, New York, "Where Henry Hudson Turned Around."

Monday, March 07, 2016

DOMESTIGATE....

...is back. Welcome to Part I of our 911-part series on...


On Friday, Jim Franco broke the news that veteran Troy Police Detective Tim Colaneri has been placed on 30 days unpaid suspension for his alleged involvement in the disclosure of the Jim Gordon, my husband "held me down," 911 recording. A brief recap is in order for those who haven't followed the saga.

In July of 2015 the Troy Police were called to the home of Republican mayoral candidate Jim Gordon. Gordon's wife had phoned 911. The next day the Times Union had the story:

"The incident was called a "verbal argument" between Councilman Jim Gordon and his wife, by the responding officers, police said Friday."

The Republican candidate went on to say that "his wife called police and later regretted it?"


There, the story died. After all, the police had not been called to Bill Dunne's home. Nothing was noted in The Record and oddly, Franco's Talk 1300 Report was silent. Franco has never been one to shy away from rumors but this one seemed off limits.

The story was probably fading away when the Times Union's Brendan Lyons posted the 911 recording on-line. It was October 20th and the recording rocked the mayoral campaign.  The recording did not match Gordon's characterization of events. Mrs. Gordon wanted her husband out of the home. A baby wails in the background. "He held me down." reports Mrs. Gordon. Lyons stated that a Democratic operative sent him the recording.

This unleashed a can of worms and, as you know, once unleashed it's hell to get those leashes back on. The Republican keepers of righteousness and morality wailed, gnashed their teeth and demanded Gordon resign. Whoops. Forgot. Again, not Bill Dunne. The GOP was predictably silent and filled with outrage. Not at what was on the recording, but because the recording had been disclosed. They were 50% justified. Their silence on the first part of the equation certainly undermined their faux outrage.

The people who had access to the recording were the officers who retrieved the recording for investigatory purposes. This was Colaneri and Millington (Millington was cleared of wrongdoing according to Franco). However, Colaneri could not be described as a Democratic operative. There had to be a second shooter.

In November, police obtained a warrant to search the cell phone of one Gary Gordon. Gordon was a former police officer, former investigator with the District Attorneys office and, though a registered Conservative, the failed Democratic candidate for Rensselaer County Sheriff in 2011. It was not hard to surmise that Gordon was thought to be the one that sent the recording to Lyons.

While November's events were not surprising, December's events were. In December, police obtained a warrant for the cell phone of Assistant District Attorney Shane Hug. Shane Hug was then terminated (from employment, he is still alive according to sources). Nothing in the news accounts linked the two stories except rumor.

On Friday, Colaneri was suspended without pay. That is never a good sign. Furthermore, Colaneri's son was recently hired by the Department. According to Franco, Detective Ron Fountain, now retired, obtained a copy of the recording with Colaneri's knowledge and is believed to be the one that sent the recording to Gordon.

Most of this was well-known, if the prevailing rumors were to be believed. Now, it's out for public consumption thanks to Franco.

It should go without saying that the people or persons who allowed the recording to be sent to Gordon should be punished. Those utilizing 911 should not have to second guess their choice for fear that sensitive information will be made public.

There's a quick recap of events to date. Next, we'll look at what effect, if any, the release of the recording, had on the 2015 race and the tainted IA and criminal investigation.

54 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wake Lou up we have the tape he has to sign for the sons job now. Fitzy has the paperwork. Lou loves him.

Anonymous said...

Know one reads this.

Anonymous said...

I do.

Anonymous said...

I think you mean "no one".

Anonymous said...

Jay Vandenburgh will always disappoint.

Anonymous said...

This is garbage...Tim Colander is a good man-truly one of Troy's finest. I'd hate to see him have to fall on his sword due to a slug like Gordon.
....Hull Cogan

Anonymous said...

They didn't mind making made-up robo calls about Dunne and intimidating Colleen Regan into doing it. Now they're outraged about this. They are all scumbags.

Anonymous said...

Just another group working out of the BOE. Wade is behind this also.

Anonymous said...

He ain't so good.

Anonymous said...

I didn't hear the robo calls but if it was a women who was it? Anyone know?

Anonymous said...

Thank you Lucy and Drew for bringing to light mr coxs past indiscretions. Now we know why he bounces from state to state

Anonymous said...

Zba chair will always prevail

Anonymous said...

He didnt disapoint when he told family jack legg they couldnt operate on 5th

Anonymous said...

La familia de jack legg

Anonymous said...

What laws were broken?

Anonymous said...

It was his wife dipshit

Anonymous said...

Tim COLANERI is a better man kn his worst day than Gordon on his best day and pardon my earlier typo. My I Phone sucketh....Hull Cigan.

Anonymous said...

Tim COLANERI is a better man kn his worst day than Gordon on his best day and pardon my earlier typo. My I Phone sucketh....Hull Cogan.

Anonymous said...

The robo calls were a private company. The question is who ordered and paid for the robo calls. I'm sure Pat Madden had no knowledge. At least Mirch and Crowley had Colleen Reagan do it right out of city hall.

Anonymous said...

Colleen Regan. She admitted it in an affidavit against Crist.

Anonymous said...

I know who it was. The name sure does ring a "BELL"

Anonymous said...

Fountain was the perp, but he was one of Tedesco's click, so he was given a deal- no trouble, just tell on Gary Gordon so we can get a search warrant for his phone. Tim Colaneri was duped, and he is the fall guy. Fountain received no punishment. Tedesco is crooked! It must have stung when one of his little rat's hurt his candidate's chances.

Anonymous said...

It's hilarious that the GOP wants to keep this story alive. Nothing like reminding the voters what a scumbag candidate you tried to put in as Mayor

Anonymous said...

What laws were broken? By Gordon or Colaneri?

Anonymous said...

No one seems to be concerned about the issue of chain of custody.
Pro-Gordon, Anti-Gordon is not the issue. Evidence was willfully tampered with.

Anonymous said...

If folks think that this sort of selective law "enforcement" doesn't go on all the time with the TPD, then they are sadly naive. Wonder why the morale is so low?

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. But, he made a mistake tampering with evidence. Sad part, is that Gordon's gonna wind up with a nice chunk of our money because of it.

Anonymous said...

the robo ~ call sounded an awful lot like a former ~ "take back troy" member ~
watch out for the "wall of shame" ~ i still have it on my v~mail

Anonymous said...

No one looks good here. Why Gordon pops up and comments is beyond me.

The Gordon's will get nothing out of this. Jim has no cause of action nor was any wrong done to him.

Anonymous said...

What evidence. There were no charges brought. Tampered? It was a recording. There's been no tampering. 911 calls aren't confidential. They're released all over the country including Albany county with the bus incident!

Anonymous said...

And my phone STILL sucketh.

Anonymous said...

Albany Times Union has a story about what the presidential canadate would look like with a beard but nothing about cops suspended and their involvement.

Anonymous said...

Jimbo's quotes in the press conveniently omit the part about his wife telling the dispatcher that he held her down. True or no, Jim? Was your wife lying to the cops? Are you going to reimburse the taxpayers for the police response? The public deserves an answer.

Anonymous said...

Gordon really thinks he lost the election because of the 911 call. Now that's funny. Look at the numbers and his political record. Talk about delusional.

Phana24JG said...

Seriously? A sergeant with all that experience was "duped?" If you want to claim he was put in a bad spot OK,but for God's sake please keep it rational. Is this a serious crime? Of course not, but it is stupid, and speaks volumes about the lack of judgment on the part of several people.

Phana24JG said...

Did you really expect Rex's lap dog to do a negative story about a Democrat unless they absolutely had to. Smith has run that paper into the ground.

Anonymous said...

I believe the last comment was sarcasm since the TU was complicit. But you're right, if it was a dem they would have never ran with it.

Anonymous said...

Even better is what the happy couple was fighting about that night. Bad boy, Jim.

Anonymous said...

Here we go. The Republicans blaming the media. They sound like little bitches. We can't win because of the media. The media is biased. We'll have to wait until the wife of a democrat feels the need to call 911.

Anonymous said...

They need an excuse for losing.

Anonymous said...

I guess Ken Crowe will have to be called out like this blog was for not running the cop suspension story.

Anonymous said...

Yes, that must be it. This blog usually doesn't post on the weekends, moron. But you showed them.

Anonymous said...

6:52 I did and thank you.

Anonymous said...

It has been on the TV and reported in area news feeds. Just not the times union.

Anonymous said...

6:21 that sums it up perfectly. And this was a particularly humiliating loss. But shouldn't Jim be used to that?

Phana24JG said...

Are you suggesting the local media is not biased? The TV side is generally reasonable, but the print media is a joke. There are some good reporters but the TU is so far to the left, it might as well share office space with the various liberal moonbat organizations.

Sick of it said...

It really takes a special kind of gall for a "man" (particularly one in public office) who holds his wife down and scares her into calling 911 to claim any kind of outrage at the ensuing fallout. Jim Gordon is a sick loser who should be denounced by anyone who cares about domestic violence. Instead the Troy GOP puts him on a martyr pedestal. Truly frightening and now we understand why they don't get the women's vote. They hate women. And they'll just keep losing.

Phana24JG said...

Are the liberals still playing the "war against women" mantra? these people will follow anything. Visit any country with a substantial Islamic population of you want to see a war on women.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone speaking up for that poor terrified baby wailing in the background of that 911 call? That's the most disgusting part of the whole thing. What kind of man puts his child through that! Disgusting!

Anonymous said...

What exactly is your point. Unless women are abused as badly as they are under the Taliban, it's acceptable and they should just stfu? That's a great attitude. You must be a Republican.

Phana24JG said...

My point was using the tired old phrase war on women is ridiculous. You obviously know very little about Islamic societies, even those that set up their own little enclaves in otherwise advanced societies. Honor killings have occurred in North America, and throughout many European and Asian nations with more advanced cultures.

I am not a Republican, I am a conservative.

Anonymous said...

if Jim was a sure loss then why did they need to release the tape...they were scared!

Anonymous said...

8:57 you don't understand politics. The city GOP candidates ran as a slate so to speak, with Gordon at the top. You saw the campaign literature. A hit to Gordon had the potential to hurt all of them. No one seriously believed Gordon would win, including most people from his own party.

Anonymous said...

Have you found Jimmy Hoffa yet?