July 4 assault still a mystery
No charges filed after party at sheriff ’s deputy’s home
Lawn signs reading “#JUSTICEFORHAROLD” have gone up in the town mirroring the social media call for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office to publicly answer the question of who assaulted a local man at a July 4th party.
Harold Handy is known throughout this northern Columbia County town, a mix of suburbs, villages and farms. Handy was so fiercely attacked that an ambulance drove him 50 minutes to Albany Medical Center Hospital from a party at the 3193 County Route 21, the residence of Alex Rosenstrach, the owner of Clublife Health and Fitness in Kinderhook, and his wife Kelly Rosenstrach, a county sheriff’s deputy. The lack of charges from law enforcement after the assault has fueled speculation and frustrated residents.
“It happened on the Fourth of July and we know nothing,” said Misty Brew-kusewich of Matthew Signs on Route 9, which has printed 50 lawn signs, larger signs and 250 bumper stickers calling for “#JUSTICEFORHAROLD.” They’ve been given away for free.
With a lack of facts, speculation has spread quickly through the town and the county as to what’s happening in the investigation into how and who assaulted Handy. Residents have wondered in person and online how the Rosenstrachs’ ties to the county’s law enforcement community may, or may not, be inf luencing the investigation.
Alex Rosenstrach, 36, entered the news in May when he reopened his Clublife Health and Fitness, an independent gym, in defiance of the state’s mandate for gyms to be shut during the pandemic. At the time, Sheriff David P. Bartlett said the matter was for local
zoning officials to deal with before law enforcement became involved. The gym owner in person was reasoned about his economic decisions for reopening, but was conspiratorial in his past Facebook posts. In a post that generated more than 1,000 comments, he called the pandemic a “planned sabotage on our nation.”
Rosenstrach could not be reached for comment Wednesday about the ongoing assault investigation.
Town residents want to know the details of what left Handy severely injured to bring deputies and the ambulance to the Rosenstrach residence at 1:27 a.m. July 5, Kinderhook Supervisor Patsy Leader said.
Handy, who operates Handy Repairs in Kinderhook, could not be reached for comment Wednesday about his condition. Social media postings say he has been released from Albany Medical Center Hospital.
“We all want to know what happened. This is going on too long. We want answers,” Leader said.
There’s been plenty of speculation about who was at the party, particularly because it was being thrown by a sheriff’s deputy, Leader said. “We’re not detectives. We’re not investigators.”
Bartlett’s office issued two press releases July 9 about the assault investigation.
Deputy Kelly Rosenstrach was placed on administrative leave. The sheriff’s office has declined to comment further on the deputy’s status citing personnel issues.
It did, however, announce a search warrant was executed to search the Rosenstrach residence on July 7. A local law enforcement source said that the search warrant was executed 36 hours after the party.
At the time, the sheriff’s office said, “At this point in the investigation, it has been determined that no other deputy sheriffs were at this residence at the time of the incident.” Thursday, a department spokesman said that release stood.
The state police said none of their members attended the party. Officials and law enforcement sources confirmed that a federal agency member was at the party but declined to identify him except to say he was not a FBI agent, which had been speculated on social media.
“There’s a lot of work to be done by the investigators. They’re working on it,” said Lt. Louis Bray, Columbia County Sheriff spokesman.
Bartlett pledged transparency when the Times Union spoke to him a week ago.
“Investigators are being assisted by the New York State Police Special Investigative Unit,” Bartlett said. “Normally, we would just handle this case alone. I wanted the state police here for transparency.”
The investigation “will be investigated to its fullest, but we need to also get the proper evidence and information,” he said. Bartlett hasn’t been able to be reached since then.
The State Police Special Investigations Unit is usually not on the scene of this type of investigation. Its investigators are assigned to cases requiring specialized investigative techniques, undercover operations, surveillance work and longterm investigations. The unit is stationed around the state and is not a part of any troop. It is not part of Troop K, which patrols Columbia County.
“The Special Investigations Unit was assigned to assist with this case to eliminate any perception of a conflict of interest,” Beau Duffy, a spokesman for the Division of State Police in Albany, said Wednesday.
But after seeing protests about the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May in which four former Minneapolis police officers have been charged, local residents worry about what’s going on in Kinderhook.
“There’s a lot going on in our country right now with discussions about the police force. We don’t want that,” said a town resident, who asked not to be identified due to knowing members of the sheriff’s office.
“We want to trust our local sheriff’s department. This is why people have doubts with this process that’s playing out. A lot of people doubt that there’s transparency in the investigation,” the resident said.
“It’s not just justice for Harold. It’s about justice for our community. We need to trust and rely on our sheriff’s department,” the resident said.
Brew-kusewich said many of the lawn signs have been stolen. That’s the reason the bumper stickers have also been printed.
“It’s about Harold,” Brew-kusewich said. “But it’s also about the community.”