Fired worker pleads guilty to trying to sink historic barge

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

A Waterford man has pleaded guilty to a felony charge that he attempted to sink a historic barge in the Erie Canal after being fired as a maintenance worker on the boat.

Guy Pucci, 36, of Waterford, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of felony criminal mischief and he is to be sentenced in September by Saratoga County Court Judge Jerry Scarano.

Pucci admitted he smashed open valves in the Day Peckinpaugh with the intention of sending the 89-year-old boat to the bottom of the canal.

The cargo barge, built in 1921, is believed to be the last of its kind still in existence, according to the director of the New York State Museum, which owns the Day Peckinpaugh.

The museum received a $3.1 million federal grant last year to turn the vessel into a floating museum that would travel the canal.

In March, museum Director Cliff Siegfried said the boat’s engine room was partially flooded but was not likely to sink completely because of ballast tanks on board.

According to museum literature, the 259-foot barge was the last commercial freighter operating on the Erie Canal when it was retired in 1924. The vessel was built narrow and low to clear bridges and canal locks.

The boat was part of the Hudson Quadricentennial celebration last year and traveled up the Champlain Canal to Lake Champlain and down the Hudson River to New York City.

Siegfried said about 5,000 people visited the Day Peckinpaugh during the voyage.

Museum spokesman John Callaghan said the damage caused by the partial flooding of the boat has been repaired and the renovation project is back on schedule.

“A lot of the damage was done to components of the boat that were slated for rehab,” he said. “The cost of the damage is a moving target, we really can’t say.”

A charge of grand larceny against Pucci was dismissed. He was originally charged with stealing a state-owned SUV from the canal site, which was later discovered abandoned near the post office in Waterford.

In other business this week before Scarano:

— A Schenectady man sentenced to 10 years in prison in Schenectady County Court two weeks ago for drug and weapons charges was sentenced to 3 years in prison in Saratoga County Court.

— Edward Cruz, 25, of Steinmetz Homes, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance for an incident in Clifton Park in March.

— Earlier, Cruz and a fellow Schenectady resident, Jose Davila, 27, were sentenced to prison for a series of shootings in Schenectady last summer which resulted in property damages.

— Radley King, 32, of Clifton Park, was sentenced to 2 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance for an incident in Wilton in February.

— Vincent Nichols Sr., 44, of Saratoga Springs, was sentenced to 5 years of probation after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal sale of marijuana.