Albany man accused in August shots fired incident

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Albany Police detectives continuing to investigate an August shots fired incident that took place in the area of Central and Lexington Avenues, arrested the man who they say was responsible. Police said during the investigation, detectives also recovered two loaded handguns and a quantity of narcotics.

On Tuesday, September 27, around 1:55 p.m., detectives from the Albany Police Department's Community response unit pulled over a car on the 700 block of Washington Avenue in reference to the shots fired incident last month, as well as a separate investigation into narcotics activity. During the stop, Hazziez Wallace, 22, of Albany, and three other people inside the car were all taken into custody. A loaded .45 caliber handgun which was reported stolen in December 2019 out of Columbia County was also located inside the car, police said.

During his arrest at the Washington Avenue traffic stop, police said they also found crack cocaine on Wallace. He had allegedly hidden the drugs in his pants pocket.

Charges for Wallace:

• Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon
• Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon
• Fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property
• Third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance
• Fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance

Hope Boyd, 19, of Berlin, who was riding in the car with Wallace, was charged with one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of the stolen property. She was also found to be in possession of 52 ecstasy, police said, and charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Romeisha Releford, 22, of Albany, was also in the car at the time of the arrests. Releford was charged with one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

The third person in the car was Duante Ethridge, 20, of Troy. Ethridge was charged with one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. He was also charged with one count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance after police said they found 35 grams of crack cocaine in his sock.

As part of the ongoing investigation, detectives carried out a search warrant at Wallace's home on the 300 block of Second Street. There, officers allegedly recovered a 9mm handgun, a quantity of crack cocaine, and several materials used for packaging, distributing, and selling narcotics.

After the search, Wallace was charged with:

• Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon
• Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon
• Two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance
• Two counts of second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia

On Friday, August 26, 2022, around 12:10 p.m., Albany Police officers responded to the area of Central and Lexington Avenues for a report of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers located evidence at the scene consistent with gunshots and learned through their investigation that Wallace had allegedly fired a .45 caliber handgun towards another individual on the street, which was crowded at the time, police said.

Wallace was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of first-degree reckless endangerment for his alleged role in the August shots fired incident. He, and his three passengers from the Washington Avenue traffic stop, were arraigned Wednesday in Albany City Criminal Court