Two bizarre crimes last week have left Cobleskill Police puzzled and asking for the public's help.
Yet even with the public's help, there's little to go on in an alleged slashing and a school-bus robbery.
Police believe the two incidents are unrelated, though they happened a day apart in the same area.
The slashing occurred last Sunday, the 24th. Police received a call to go to the parking lot at the Colonial Court Motel where a man claimed to have been cut by three assailants.
The victim was highly intoxicated, and even though he had called police, he didn't want them to investigate after they arrived, Chief Larry Travis said.
"He had significant lacerations to the face and chest with some type of sharp object, like a razor or possibly a knife," Sergeant Rich Bialkowski said.
An ambulance responded to the scene, and the crew recommended the victim be taken to Cobleskill Regional Hospital.
But the man refused medical treatment, Sergeant Bialkowski said.
Police are unsure what instigated the slashing. There was no robbery, but the victim alleged a verbal argument.
"He couldn't give any description at all of the three people who attacked him," Chief Travis said. "There's not a lot to go on."
The same is true of the second incident.
Police were called to the parking lot of the Super 8 Motel, where a suspect had stolen a radio from a school bus after striking a woman on the head.
Sergeant Bialkowski gave the following account:
Five employees from a North Carolina school bus company were transporting buses to Canada and had stopped at the Super 8 to spend the night.
Before they went to bed, one of the employees, a woman, went out to check the four buses.
When she entered the fourth bus, the woman was struck on the head with a fist or object and held on the floor of the bus.
While the assailant held her on the floor, he took a radio from the bus and then fled the scene.
The buses were left unlocked, Chief Travis said.
Because it was dark and the woman was groggy from being struck on the head, she couldn't give a description of her attacker.
"There's no height, weight, which direction he left or whether he had a vehicle," Sergeant Bialkowski said.
The woman was taken to Cobleskill Regional for treatment for a contusion to her forehead, he said.
"We've asked other agencies for help, but we've gotten nothing from that," Chief Travis said.
The strongest hope police have is that DNA taken from the scene will match what's on file if the assailant was arrested before.
If not, the DNA can be used to create a suspect file if he's arrested again, Sergeant Bialkowski said.
Police are asking for help with both crimes. Anyone with information can call police at 234-2923.