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ROTTERDAM
School official charged in explosion incident
Device damaged Shardon Court residen
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

Stephen Raucci, the Schenectady City School District’s head of facilities, was arrested Friday for allegedly detonating an explosive device by the front door of a Rotterdam residence eight years ago.
    Raucci, 60, was charged with fi rstdegree arson in Rotterdam Town Court Friday afternoon and ordered held without bail over the weekend. Rotterdam police Lt. Michael Brown declined to elaborate on the arrest, but said further charges could be forthcoming.
    “There are the possibility of other ones,” he said.
    Investigators believe Raucci fastened an M-80 firecracker or a quarter-stick of dynamite beneath the door handle of an occupied Shardon Court residence in August 2001. The device was set off during the early morning hours and caused extensive damage to the front entryway of the residence.
    Police recovered a note from the scene that stated “we hate you and your grievances” and “you may be a tough guy with women, let’s see how tough you are with men.” A number of police officers own homes on Shardon Court.
    Both investigators and the homeowners believed the explosive device was likely left at the wrong home.
    State police investigators led Raucci away from the school administration’s offices in handcuffs Friday morning. Authorities said they executed a search warrant at Raucci’s Balltown Road residence and his district office, where they recovered a small explosive device, among other things.
    Superintendent Eric Ely wouldn’t confirm Raucci’s arrest, but acknowledged the district is aware of criminal allegations against an employee at the school. He said the district takes any allegation seriously and would take any appropriate disciplinary action if it became necessary.
    “The Schenectady City School District is aware of allegations of a potentially criminal nature against one of our employees,” he said in a statement. “We have not been apprised of any specific charges and we are not aware of the validity of these allegations.”
    Raucci is employed as the school’s head utility worker and is paid $79,297 a year, according to the district. The 36-year veteran employee also serves as president of the district’s local CSEA chapter.
    When asked if Raucci is being disciplined by the school, district spokeswoman Karen Corona declined to discuss the matter. She said he is still a fulltime employee at the district.
    “We don’t share whether or not any employee is being disciplined,” she said.
    Raucci did not return calls to his office Friday afternoon. His secretary later directed calls from The Daily Gazette to the superintendent’s office.
    Calls placed to Stephen Kouray, Raucci’s attorney, and Schenectady school board president Jeff Janiszewski were not returned Friday. Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney declined to comment on the case prior to a news conference today.
    Raucci, meanwhile, is the focus of an ongoing federal lawsuit filed against the district. Former school custodial supervisor Ronald Kriss is seeking $8 million in damages from the district, claiming Raucci taunted him because he suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and an anxiety disorder.
    Kriss, who was employed at ......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00101

I don't even remember this when it happened.

Quoted from GrahamBonnet

I don't even remember this when it happened.

How could anyone forget an explosion on "Police" Court? I also remember the same hush-hush approach we're seeing in this report.
Chief Hamilton confirmed the incident at the time, but never offered details or follow-up reports.

None of this makes any sense what so ever to me. Charging someone EIGHT YEARS later??? Something is fishy here! IMHO

http://capitalnews9.com/conten.....in-2001/Default.aspx

I went by RPD this morning, Capital News 9 was there doing a live remote, presumably for the noon news .. and their flag was at half mast. Any idea why that is? (the school and RFD2 were both at full mast)

the past is the past so let it go already the guy will pay his fine and that is it why do you repubs and troublemakers stir this here up now?

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ROTTERDAM
DA says school official sought revenge Vandalism incidents being investigated
BY TATIANA ZARNOWSKI Gazette Reporter

    A nighttime 2001 explosion that damaged a home entryway was never forgotten, even though it took police eight years to make an arrest, authorities said Saturday. They suspect that and other events now under review may have been acts of revenge.
    The incident “was always on the radar screen of the Rotterdam police even as it aged,” said Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney in a Saturday press conference at Rotterdam Town Court.
    Stephen Raucci, of Niskayuna, was charged Friday with arson in connection with the explosion.
    In 2006, five years after an explosive device was detonated at a Shardon Court home in Rotterdam, state police formed a task force to investigate that incident and other more recent vandalism complaints. They started scrutinizing Raucci, the head of facilities for Schenectady City School District, Carney said.
    Victims of the crimes all had one thing in common — they had somehow “crossed” Raucci, Carney said.
    Police believe the intended target of the Shardon Court explosion lived in a different house on the street. But victims of other incidents being investigated include school district employees and m e m b e r s o f CSEA.
    The 60-yearold Raucci is president of the district’s local CSEA chapter and has worked for the city school district for 36 years. He makes $79,297 a year as the district’s head utility worker.
“We believe that Mr. Raucci engaged in an ongoing course of conduct intending to intimidate people,” Carney said.
Carney said he didn’t know how many incidents are being investigated for a connection to Raucci. Raucci’s tenure with the district and CSEA position may have given him power over people, Carney said.
“There may have been people who were aware of things about him who were either intimidated or looked the other way,” he said. No one could look the other way on Friday, when Raucci was arrested mid-morning as he arrived at Mont Pleasant Middle School for work. He was charged with one count of first-degree arson and is being held in Schenectady County jail without bail for the weekend.
    School district spokeswoman Karen Corona on Saturday said district officials were reluctant to comment. Late Saturday she released a statement from board President Jeff Janiszewski, expressing concern and deferring comment to Superintendent Eric Ely, who has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Monday.
HOME SEARCHED
    Authorities seized two computers, $120,000, and three handguns from Raucci’s home at 1421 Balltown Road, where he lives with his wife, and another computer and a small explosive device from his offi ce.
    Raucci had a handgun permit and may have owned the guns legally, Carney said. He couldn’t say whether Raucci had a criminal record.
    In the Shardon Court incident, Raucci is accused of detonating a device, possibly an M-80 firecracker or a quarter-stick of dynamite.
    The early morning explosion in August 2001 damaged the home’s metal door, deformed the door frame and blew the handle off, and could have seriously injured anyone standing inside, Carney said. No one was hurt.
    At the scene, police recovered a note that said, “We hate you and your grievances” and “you may be a tough guy with women, let’s see how tough you are with men.”
    Carney wouldn’t comment on whether police believe the “grievances” related to union business.
    Other incidents of vandalism and graffiti that are under investigation for a possible connection to Raucci span Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties, Carney said.
    Police are investigating reports of vehicle vandalism, including slashed tires and damage to vehicle paint.
    “We are talking about the issue of jurisdiction,” Carney said, since the crimes may have been committed in several counties. “We believe the genesis of the crime … was in Schenectady County.”
    Authorities ask anyone with information about Raucci to call Rotterdam police at 355-7397, state police at 1-800-GIVE-TIP or crimetip@troopers.state.ny.us  or Carney at 388-4364.
    “We are very much interested in any input from the public,” Carney said.
    Raucci could face a charge of possession of a weapon from the explosive device that was found in his office. Carney described it as a 2-by-3-inch cardboard-covered device with a protruding fuse. It did not.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00900

Obviously this guy has a history......had a bomb in  his office at the middle school(real safe);120,000 cash at his house..who the  hell has that kind  of cash hanging around the house..that sounds fishy to me

Quoted from B GAGE

Obviously this guy has a history......had a bomb in  his office at the middle school(real safe);120,000 cash at his house..who the  hell has that kind  of cash hanging around the house..that sounds fishy to me

First I wish I had $120G's hidden in my house. And second...this whole thing still sounds fishy to some folks.

what is the big problem nop one is hurt so get on with your life and find the real criminals over there

Quoted from bumblethru

First I wish I had $120G's hidden in my house. And second...this whole thing still sounds fishy to some folks.

I bet if that was your  house that this idiot did it too you would not feel that way

Quoted from bumblethru

None of this makes any sense what so ever to me. Charging someone EIGHT YEARS later??? Something is fishy here! IMHO

Ok  so the crime was  8 years ago and that sounds fishy....how about  the guy  from florida  that owned the marina  near the old riverhouse bar  and they  arrested him 10 years ago for a murder he did  25 years ago....is that fishy too

Quoted from 191

what is the big problem nop one is hurt so get on with your life and find the real criminals over there

shut up  moron....you are a real prize   keep hiding behind"sal" over there

Quoted from B GAGE

I bet if that was your  house that this idiot did it too you would not feel that way

You are right. And I'll also bet that if it had happened to my house EIGHT YEARS AGO, the case would have been closed SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO! The only reason this has still remained an issue is due to the fact that a cop thinks it was intended for his house. And perhaps it was. I'mnot the one defending or prosecuting this guy.

And having $120 G's in his home is hardly evidence. My uncle has $250 G's in his safe at home. REALLY! He just worked and saved and didn't believe in banks.
IMHO

sure sounds like your defending him.