A New York man was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm after fatally shooting two people who broke into his home.
Ronald Stolarczyk, 64, “interrupted a burglary and shot the two suspects with an illegally owned handgun,” according to the New York State Police.
The burglars broke into his home on Walker Road in Deerfield on Tuesday afternoon. They were later identified as Patricia Anne Talerico, 57, of Utica, and Nicholas Talerico, 27, also of Utica.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene while the man was rushed to a hospital in a private vehicle and pronounced dead there.
Contd…
Police say Stolarczyk is charged with Criminal Possession of a firearm, a felony; and the gun he used was an illegally owned hand gun. https://t.co/cymKy5AqP5— Ben Dennis (@broadcastben_) May 29, 2019
Stolarczyk was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a firearm, the state police said in a press release. He was booked into the Oneida County Jail.
Police said that they responded to a call about a possible home invasion with a suspect on the loose.
“The word that we had originally was a possible home invasion, possible suspect running at large,” New York State Trooper Jack Keller told WSYR.
“We were able to quickly identify who those people were … it turned out later it was one of the victims but also we were able to determine quickly that there was no one else and the public was not in danger at all.”
In Oneida County, troopers say Deerfield homeowner Ronald Stolarczyk interrupted a burglary & shot two suspects with an illegally-owned handgun. Nicholas & Patricia Anne Talerico died. Stolarczyk is charged with Criminal Possession of a Firearm. pic.twitter.com/ohuu8Iweyo
— Tammy Palmer (@TammyPalmerNews) May 29, 2019
Photos from the scene showed crime tape up around the house and at least four police vehicles nearby.
Troopers did not comment on the illegal possession charge.
It wasn’t clear whether Stolarczyk was a convicted felon or if there was another reason for the illegal handgun charge.
????BREAKING: Deerfield, NY homeowner Ronald A. Stolarczyk, 64, arrested by @nyspolice for using illegal handgun to kill two people who were burglarizing his home today.
Dead suspects are Patricia Anne Talerico, 57, and Nicholas A. Talerico, 27, both of Utica.— Michael Benny (@MichaelBenny) May 29, 2019
Crime Statistics
Crime declined in the first half of 2018 compared to the first half of 2017, the FBI said in February. Preliminary statistics show nearly all offenses in the violent crime category declined. Robbery offenses decreased 12.5 percent, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses decreased 6.7 percent, and aggravated assault offenses declined 2 percent, the agency said. Rapes, however, increased by 0.6 percent.
When comparing data from the first six months of 2018 with the first six months of 2017, all property crime categories showed a decrease. Burglaries were down 12.7 percent, larceny-thefts decreased 6.3 percent, and motor vehicle thefts declined 3.3 percent. The full 2018 crime report will be released later this year.
The FBI previously said that both violent crime and property crime decreased in 2017, the last year that full statistics are available for, compared to 2016. Overall violent crime decreased 0.2 percent from 2016 to 2017, while property crime decreased 3 percent during that time, the agency said in September 2018, releasing data from the previous year.
“There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes reported to UCR nationwide in 2017. There was a 0.7 percent decrease in murders and a 4 percent decrease in robberies from 2016 to 2017. Aggravated assaults increased by 1 percent in 2017. The FBI began collecting data solely on an updated rape definition last year, and 135,755 rapes were reported to law enforcement in 2017,” the FBI stated.
“The report also showed there were more than 7.7 million property crimes last year. Burglaries decreased 7.6 percent and larceny-thefts decreased by 2.2 percent. Motor vehicle thefts increased by 0.8 percent from 2016 to 2017.”
The figures were compiled from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States that submitted their crime data to the FBI.
