Cops advise man to break into home; woman inside house responds with a gun

Moments after arriving at the city house, Rochester Police Officer Korey McNees offered a solution for the man standing outside who wanted to retrieve items from his uncooperative girlfriend who'd earlier changed the locks:



Just break into the house, McNees said.



The law allowed it, McNees told the man time and time again in conversations outside of the Genesee Park Boulevard home and captured on police-worn body cameras. If the boyfriend lived there, then he was in his legal right to kick in a door or break a window and get his small refrigerator, air conditioning unit, and gift cards he wanted from within, the officer said.



Finally, the boyfriend, who for more than 20 minutes hesitated to follow the advice and who did not formally reside at the home, listened to McNees and smashed out a window. His former girlfriend, Catherine Bonner, responded by sticking a 9mm rifle out of the window. And now Bonner is facing criminal charges, accused of menacing a police officer in the Nov. 13 incident.



On Tuesday, May 22, state Supreme Court Justice Charles Schiano Jr. is scheduled to rule on motions from Bonner's attorney, David Pilato, who contends that evidence in the case should be suppressed because the police actions before, during, and even after Bonner's arrest were clearly unconstitutional.



Prosecutors differ, saying Bonner had no cause to stick the rifle out the window, even if the police were in the wrong when telling the boyfriend he could break in.