CITY OF TONAWANDA: Police arrest Lockport man in June burglary case

Staff Reports
Greater Niagara Newspapers

TONAWANDA July 17, 2008 02:32 am

— City of Tonawanda Police arrested a Lockport man Wednesday morning in connection with a June burglary on Niagara Street.
Michael D. Cochrane, 27, of 379 Akron St., was arrested on a warrant for five felony charges, including burglary, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief. He has a felony hearing in Tonawanda City Court on Friday.
Tonawanda detectives John Ivancic, Michael Kenney and Mike Rogers worked the case, piecing together information gathered from calls Cochrane made using a stolen cell phone, according to reports. They were also able to recover some of the stolen items from Cochrane’s residence, they said.
Police accuse Cochrane of breaking into the home on the afternoon of June 15, which was Father’s Day, and stealing a 40-inch flat-screen television valued at $3,000, two digital cameras, a hand gun and jewelry, allegedly to feed a drug habit.
Cochrane was in custody for allegedly robbing the Daily Grind coffee shop at gunpoint in Lockport when Tonawanda police interviewed him as part of their investigation. Police said Cochrane sold the TV to an employee of the Convenient One Stop Store in Lockport.
“Bits and pieces came in. There were a lot of hours and a lot of leg work involved with those three detectives in putting all these pieces together,” said Lt. Fredric Foels, a police spokesman.
He said burglary cases are a high priority for the department. “The thought of some stranger going through your house when you’re not home — that’s why it’s a felony,” Foels said.