The Buffalo Police Department is now posting crime data online.

Syaed Ali, of course, is the guy we first wrote about on January 9: He’s the young man from a Bangladeshi family who lives on Breckenridge Street, and is accused of emailing fake press releases making salacious allegations about the private life of Mayor Byron Brown last summer. In November, Buffalo Police, armed with a search warrant signed by City Court Judge Craig Hannah, a Brown appointee, ransacked Ali’s house, confiscated his and his family’s possessions, took Ali downtown, and questioned him for several hours. No arrest, no arrest warrant, no lawyers, no phone call. Going on four months later, Ali still has not been charged and Buffalo Police have returned none of his and his family’s possessions.

Syaed Ali

Ali began talking to AV in January and hasn’t stopped talking. This, while certainly Ali’s right, presents something of a problem for the lawyer he’s retained, Richard Grimm III of the firm Magavern Magavern & Grimm: All this talking with the media runs the risk of compromising the lawsuit they intend to file, if Ali’s narrative changes over time in even the slightest detail.

And the attention Ali has demanded also draws reports like this one by Buffalo Geek, who this morning dives into one of the many, many deep pools of weirdness in the case. Read the whole thing over there, but here’s the gist: Ali’s claims about his IT business, SAIL-IT Inc., seem grossly exaggerated. As a result, Ali’s credibility suffers.

Happily for Ali and his lawyer, the other side of the case has not fared much better, in terms of establishing credibility.

After insisting that he could not speak about an ongoing investigation, or even acknowledge that there was one, Buffalo Police spokesman Mike DeGeorge went ahead and told other media that the investigation was heading in the direction of aggravated harassment and criminal impersonation, and that the involvement of state and federal agencies might lead to further charges. That last part turned out not to be true: The same week that DeGeorge made this statement, both state and federal law enforcement agencies made it clear to me that they have no continuing interest in the Syaed Ali case.

A little over a week ago, a new rumor surfaced that a state law enforcement agency had become involved, and that local politicians had been summoned to speak to this agency about their relationship and correspondence with Ali. If local state law enforcement agents are investigating, they are acting without the blessing or knowledge of their superiors: Representatives from the New York State Police and the the New York State Attorney General’s office told me last week, categorically and on the record, that their agencies are not involved in the case—not on any level, local or otherwise.

I’ve been told that the source of this latest rumor is the mayor’s office, which hopes to trace those salacious emails through Syaed Ali and back to Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, the mayor’s chief Democratic rival. I don’t know if that’s true, but the source is solid. (Hoyt has denied any role in the emails, and says he met Ali once last summer, for about 20 minutes, as a result of Ali’s part is an effort to draft New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for president.) If someone in City Hall is spreading false rumors about the case, that suggests they have something to hide.

Most importantly, no one yet has denied the events of November 7. No one has refuted Ali’s story of his detention and the confiscation of his and his family’s possessions—on the contrary, Buffalo Police acknowledge possession of the materials they seized from Ali’s house, though their inventory is much shorter than the list of items missing produced by Ali and his family. No one so far has produced the affidavit that backs the search warrant signed by Hannah. No one has yet explained how sending fraudulent press releases to a wide distribution list is criminal.

Whatever the claims Ali makes about his business, true or false; whether or not he sent those emails, and whether or not Sam Hoyt conspired with him or had knowledge of what he was going to do;  regardless of the sordid playground politics that underpin this whole affair: If Ali’s claims about what happened to him on November 7 are true, then anyone party to the search of his house and his detention may be in big trouble.

Grimm filed a notice of claim against the City of Buffalo in December. The lawsuit will proceed in April. If he and Ali can hold on until then, much more of the story will become public record.

Channel 7 News reports on a rumor that has been circulating in City Hall for some time, reaching a fever pitch last week. Buffalo Police confirm for Channel 7 that Ellicott District Councilmember Brian Davis is under investigation for cashing a bad check:

Buffalo Police confirm for Eyewitness News, they are investigating allegations that Buffalo Common Councilman Brian Davis has been accused of writing a bad check for several thousand dollars. Buffalo Police aren’t releasing many details, but admitted they are looking into it. “First and foremost this is an allegation that police have been looking into, are looking into. It’s my understanding that detectives working the case are scheduled to meet with both sides in this matter trying to determine wether this is a civil case or a criminal matter. But I want to caution everyone, at this point, that no one has been arrested. At this time it remains an allegation, at this point.” said police spokesperson Mike DeGeorge.

We did try to reach Davis on this issue. He was not at Tuesday’s common council meeting. We also went to his office and he was not in. We did call his office and cell phone several times. Davis has not returned our calls.

Eyewitness News was contacted by a member of Councilman Davis’ staff. We were told he is out on medical leave by a doctor’s order and will return February 17th.

Eyewitness News is stressing these are only allegations. We are going to continue to follow this story and bring you any new developments.

Whatever happened to the BPD not commenting on ongoing investigations. Suddenly Mike DeGeorge just can’t stop talking. He reminds me of Syaed Ali.

We’ve been trying to get a hold of Davis, too, for the past week.

UPDATE: I’ve just been reminded that Davis is chair of the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee. I gwould assume he’ll be stepping down from that position, at least for the duration of the investigation?

Last night Channel 7 News reported that Syaed Ali was detained, his house searched, and his possessions confiscated back in November because Mayor Byron Brown’s security team believed he posed a threat to the safety of the mayor and his family:

It was November of last year when Buffalo Police executed a search warrant at a home on Breckenridge Street. The man who lived there is Syaed Ali. He was detained and his computer, cell phone, and personal documents were taken.

It’s been months and now police are starting to open up and say why. “Let’s just say that there are some safety concerns regarding the mayor and his family,” said police spokesperson Mike DeGeorge.

Those safety concerns were detected by the mayor’s personal security detail and considered then and now to be very serious. “It was their professional opinion that this was potentially serious enough that they forwarded it to the Buffalo Police Department. The police department has taken it and they have been investigating the matter ever since,” said DeGeorge.

Back in January Ali told Eyewitness News he did nothing wrong, and believed the move by the police was a directed from Mayor Byron Brown because of a political dispute. “They said because he made the mayor really mad,” said Ali on January 17th.

It’s been months and Ali has not yet been charged. He has filed a claim against the City of Buffalo to get his belongings back. “I want my stuff back, and all the materials back. I want these people to go away,” said Ali in January.

But that might not happen. Police tell Eye Witness News Ali could soon be facing aggravated harassment and criminal impersonation charges. They have also sought the help of outside agencies and may seek federal charges. “Could charges be upgraded, could they be elevated depending on where the investigation goes, I think that’s possible,” said DeGeorge.

Buffalo Police also tell Eyewitness News they are investigating a separate incident involving the safety of Deputy Mayor Donna Brown.

That’s more than Buffalo Police have been willing to say so far: Up until now, the line has been that the BPD will not comment on ongoing investigations—but apparently that’s not a hard and fast rule.

As long as they’re opening up, I have some questions, and here’s a half dozen of them:

1. If Ali threatened the mayor, why is the charge looming over him misdemeanor aggravated harassment?

2. We’ve talked to both the FBI and the New York Dtate Attorney General’s office, and my impression is that Buffalo Police are not going to get any help on this case from those quarters. Maybe I’m wrong, but a representative of the NYSAG’s office told me yesterday about 12 times, “It’s not our case. It’s all Buffalo Police.” So with what outside agencies is the BPD working?

3. If the mayor’s security detail had enough information about a threat to believe it was creidble and to pinpoint the source of the threat, why didn’t they get an arrest warrant for Ali?

4. If Ali is guilty of sending harassing emails to the mayor—Ali denies that, of course—that still doesn’t explain why he was detained without being arrested, allegedly told he would be arrested if he asked to speak to a lawyer or a relative, and then allegedly told to shut up about the whole incident when he was released or face arrest and criminal charges. And it doesn’t explain why the BPD still has the possessions they confiscated—not just computer equipment, Ali says, but business records, checkbooks, credit cards, cash, deodorant—three months later.

5. A lot of the stuff that Ali says was taken from his house is not covered by the warrant requested by Buffalo Police Detective Anna Mydlarz and signed by City Court Judge Craig Hannah. And the warrant cited the wrong statute (though not by much‚ off by one section). Is that grounds for suppression? What evidence did police garner from that search?

6. Ali has said police asked him to confess that South District Councilmember Mickey Kearns, who is running against Brown for mayor this year, and State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, with whom Brown has been feuding for the past four years, put him up to circulating salacious rumors about the mayor via anonymous email last summer.And that in retaliation the mayor seems to have sicced Buffalo Police on him to give him a good scare.

Let’s say that all of that is true. (I’m not saying I think it is all true, but for the sake of argument…) Let’s imagine there’s not a single fucking sympathetic character in this sordid tale. Doesn’t this then seem like a case of slander and bullying typical of Buffalo’s high-school playground politics, but escalated until it’s out of control?

It’s as if some kids playing with matches and gasoline accidentally set fire to the garage. Those damned kids are a threat to themselves.

Anyway, Ali is coming by here in about 15 minutes, so I’ll follow up with his comments.

Masten District Councilmember Demone Smith has filed two interesting letters with the Common Council this week. The first relates to Cariol Horne, the Buffalo police officer who recently was dismissed (and as a result lost her pension) after a lengthy and much-publicized discipline case. Smith thinks justice may have been a little too blind in Horne’s case, and he has a few questions for Police Commissioner McCarthy Gipson:

First, why was Officer Horne required to retain legal counsel to represent her during departmental proceedings? Second, why was Officer Horne relieved from her duties during the hearing process? Third, if Officer Horne was eligible for retirement from the Buffalo Police Department why was she not allowed to do so thereby providing her access to pension benefits that she earned? Fourth, why were witnesses who observed the confrontation between the two officers not allowed to testify regarding the events in question? Finally, what are the options available to Ms. Horne now that a decision has been made to terminate her employment with the City

Here’s the full letter.