CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Transportation of asylum seekers to Erie County has been paused following the arrest of an asylum seeker in Cheektowaga on Friday.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also announced that the National Guard is being sent to all hotels in Erie County that are currently housing asylum seekers. The National Guard is being sent to be a "stabilizing presence." It will take the guards members a few days to arrive.
Poloncarz said there is currently uniformed security at the hotels.
"Our community's trust and good faith has been betrayed. New York City needs to fix this," Poloncarz said.
An asylum seeker was arrested and charged with sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment after an incident involving a woman working with the asylum seekers. The suspect, Kindu Jeancy, 22, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was staying at the Best Western at 601 Dingens Street in the Town of Cheektowaga.
A 27-year-old woman who was working at the hotel with Platinum Community Care, an agency employed to help the asylum seekers, walked into the Cheektowaga Police station after 4 p.m. on Friday to report an incident involving one of the asylum seekers.
According to The Erie County District Attorney John Flynn the alleged defendant and victim were in a storage room when Jeancy tried to touch the victim sexually.
"The defendant and her was in this storage area ther and he allegedly tried to touch her in a ssexually innappropriate manner," Flynn says. He added, "She intiatilly tried to fight him off and tried to leave the room and the allegation is that he tried to block the doorway."
The Cheektowaga Police conducted an investigation and arrested Jeancy.
Chief Brian Gould provided the details of the arrest at a press conference on Saturday morning.
After the incident, Poloncarz contacted New York City Mayor Eric Adams to request that transportation of all asylum seekers to Erie County be halted while the county evaluates security issues. Adams agreed to no longer send people to Erie County.
"We also discussed the need for a new and improved security plan, especially considering DocGo, the third party hired by New York City to run the hotel operations, may have interfered with this investigation. Mayor Adams agreed that we need to address all security concerns with the hotels. We have already begun discussing ways to increase security and reduce any threat to our community," Poloncarz said.
"Additionally, I joined Chief Gould in calling for the closure of the Dingens Street facility and for full reimbursement by New York City to the town of Cheektowaga for all costs associated with securing these hotels. We were not advised of the placement of asylum seekers in the Dingens Street hotel until it occurred. It is not a suitable location and should be closed."
Poloncarz said unlike other hotels housing asylum seekers, the Dingens Street facility is in a neighborhood setting. He did not know exactly how many asylum seekers are currently being housed at the location on Dingens Street.
The second incident has fired up Republican Legislators. Here's why - they asked Poloncarz about a plan for the refugees. They even ridiculed Poloncarz in statements saying he was "inviting this problem to Erie county." And he was "making our community less safe." Now they're demanding that the alleged abusers be removed.
"The town, county, and New York State cannot solve what is essentially a federal issue. The Biden Administration and congress must act on this and truly implement comprehensive immigrant reform," Poloncarz said.
Jeancy was staying at a hotel on Dingens Street located near a residential neighborhood.
Last week another asylum seeker was arrested and charged with rape following an alleged incident inside of a hotel room on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga.
Gov. Kathy Hochul's office provided a statement on Saturday, following news of the arrest.
“As Governor Hochul stated on Thursday, she is not satisfied with reports of misconduct by the City's contractor and has directed her Administration to review their conduct. The Governor is grateful to Erie County law enforcement for their work in this matter and has directed State personnel to provide all necessary support," the statement said.