Most days this time of year, it’s a pretty quiet little village in upstate New York. Monday, however, was a different story in Cooperstown when police say a man wearing a mask walked into a sports memorabilia store and threatened the owner with a gun. That man, police say, is now on the loose and they’re considering him ‘armed and dangerous’.
Seventh Inning Stretch is located on Main Street, not far from the Baseball Hall of Fame. Monday morning, police say Barry Renert, a former employee of the shop, walked in around 9 a.m. with the weapon. The store owner, Vincent Carfagno, went to the floor and fired his own weapon at Renert, who then took off. The store had yet to open and no customers were inside.
A law enforcement source told the Oneonta Daily Star that Carfagno had filed a complaint with police against Renert, for embezzling from the shop. The newspaper reported that police weren’t able to question Renert about that because he had moved to Florida.
The 62-year-old Renert was apprehended 500 miles away, in Richmond, VA according to several news reports.
WBNG-TV reported he was arrested at 9:30 Monday night and would face first degree burglary charges in connection with the incident at the Cooperstown shop.
WTVR in Richmond reported that Renert was arrested at the Greyhound bus station there. The station is across the street from the Diamond, Richmond’s baseball stadium and home to the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Class AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
Several buildings in the Cooperstown area were on lockdown for part of the day Monday as various law enforcement officers searched for Renert, who was arrested back in September for violating an order of protection issued for a woman in the area.
Local media were all over the story Monday, including WNYT-TV in Albany:
WBNG-TV in Binghamton filed this report:
