Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 35-year-old Walter L. Hicks of Buffalo and 35-year-old Shaniece Jones of Buffalo pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio to one count of Trespass (violation) and were sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge. Both defendants pleaded guilty to the charge on the day their non-jury trial was scheduled to begin.
On Tuesday, December 27, 2022, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Buffalo Police responded to a report of trespassing at a store on the 2500 block of Bailey Avenue. The store was closed at the time of the crime due to the winter storm and damage from prior looting incidents. The defendants gained entry to the store through a broken glass door, which had been previously smashed by an unknown individual. Both defendants were arrested after police found them inside of a back room of the store.
DA Flynn commends Officers Gerard Wasilewski and Joseph Martin as well as the Buffalo Police Department Anti-Looting Task Force for their work in this investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Joelle M. Marino of the Felony Trials Bureau.
