Man faces drug charge after Van Vranken Avenue raid

A lengthy joint investigation culiminated in a raid this morning on a Van Vranken Avenue home that has been raided three times in the last year and a half.

Officers in the Schenectady Police Department’s Special Investigation Unit and Special Operations Squad executed a search warrant at 1513 Van Vranken Ave., where they arrested Israel Torres, 47. The warrant was produced following a joint investigation by the Capital District DEA Task Force and SIU.

Torres was charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, a class B felony.

As part of the search, a rifle and a small amount of drugs were recovered. A dog belonging to the occupants was shot and killed in the raid, but no people were injured.

The investigation is open and additional charges could be brought.