Update, Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. : The body of a drowning victim in the Housatonic River near the Mill Street dam was recovered after responders sandbagged the pipe's intake, alleviating the water flow that was pinning the body to grating inside the pipe.

The recovery came more than 24 hours after the man was reported missing in the river at 11:40 a.m. on Tuesday.

"After conferring with engineers and DPW, utilizing resources — Wahconah Welding for their crane operations and Roto-Rooter for their underwater cameras — we were able to sandbag the area, which alleviated the suction on the tube and we were able release the body," Deputy Fire Chief Michael Polidoro said Wednesday afternoon. "Our divers recovered him within less than a minute."

Police have now taken control of the body. The victim, said to be in his late teens or early 20s, has not been indentified but was reportedly from Los Angeles.

Wednesday morning, firefighters, police, private companies and city Highway Department workers were on scene working with engineers from the state to derive the sandbag idea. The body was being held against the grate by the high pressure of the water and the sandbags were placed in a position to reroute the flow through another pipe.

The night before, workers were unable to slow the pressure with the use of a steel plate nor were they able to simply pull the body out. The pressure was too much for divers to go into the spillway.

"We operate on safety factor. We made sure everything was in place and in the process no one would get hurt," Polidoro said.

The American Red Cross and Hinsdale Fire Department were providing rehab.

Update: 9:45 p.m.  Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said the body is too tied up with debris to be removed from the pipe at this time and responders will return in the morning with a new plan.

"We felt we've done all we could tonight," he said, adding that responders have been on the scene for more than 10 hours.

Crews first tried to lower a steel plate over an intake to slow the river speed but that was unsuccessful. Then, firefighters had tried to pull the body out but it was too tangled in debris. The cameras being used are not able to capture the full picture in the turbulent water.

"We just can't get a vision to see what may be hanging him up," Czerwinski said. "We're not sure how we're going to be able to pull him back out of it."

A line is tethered to the body for responders to find its location in the morning and police will secure the scene throughout the night. Czerwinski said he hopes to be back on scene by 9 a.m., after a planning meeting to determine the next steps.

Update at 8:30 p.m.: A steel plate has failed to reduce water pressure and responders are developing another plan to retrieve the body.

A lighting system was brought to the scene and installed allowing the responders to work at night. However, it is unclear how long they will stay on scene.

Update: Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski reported at 6 p.m. that the body of a man believed to have drowned in the Housatonic River had been located.

"The victim, we feel, has been located, caught up against a grating in the bottom of the river," he said. "We trying right now to relieve pressure so we can recover that body sometime in the next hour."

Responders used a camera to find the body and were planning to lower a 5 by 8 steel plate by crane onto a vertical intake line upstream in an effort to reduce the pressure in the system so it will release body.

Czerwinski said the work and weather would determine how long it would take.

The sheriff's department was also on the scene, and the fire chief noted that Roto-Rooter and Wahconah Welding had aided in the effort.

"We have tremendous support from the outside helping us in this operation," he said.

The identity of the victim, a man in his late teens or early 20s, has not been confirmed. He reportedly had the nickname "Raccoon."

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Emergency crews have been working since noontime to recover the body of a swimmer who was believed trapped in the Mill Street dam.

Three people were reportedly swimming in the Housatonic River when a current pulled one of them into a spillway pipe inside of the dam at 11:40 a.m. The body had become trapped inside of that pipe.

"We have a victim who was last seen at the spillway at the end of the Mill Street dam," said Deputy Chief Michael Polidoro on Tuesday afternoon. "We believe he was sucked into the actual spillway and is trapped in that configuration of piping."

The man, reported to be in his late teens or early 20s, was last seen by the two other swimmers at the scene near the spillway. Police were working on identifying him. A woman who was in the water with him said she had was holding onto him but lost her grip, then was able to grab onto a rock.

Emergency responders, including the state police and Pittsfield technical dive teams had arrived at the site but Polidoro said conditions made it difficult to determine where the swimmer was and to get him out.

"We're trying to reduce the flow of the water into that location," he said, adding that the turbulence hampered use of underwater cameras. "It's too hazardous a condition for both city divers or Massachusetts State Police diver to enter because of the hydraulic pressures in the water."

Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski confirmed shortly afterward that the flow of water from the Housatonic, swelled by recent rains, was too fast and heavy to risk using divers.

The swimmer was believed to have been caught up in the turbulence and sucked down into a sluice or pipe and possibly caught on a grating.

Polidoro said the configuration of pipes and sluices in the waters under the dam, which was first built to power the former Eaton Mill, were complicated. Owners of the mill had provided a set of blueprints from the 1930s but they appeared to be incomplete.

"The plans we have do not indicate what type of piping or stone waterways is in there," he said. "We're trying to get equipment in there."

Czerwinski said the responders had thought they would be able to block one sluiceway to lower the water but discovered another one under the river they were looking to block as well.

He said the area was not a regular swimming hole but something of a hangout and party area.

"We've had problems here on occasion, people falling into the water and not being able to swim, but this is the first drowning I can recall," said the chief.

At this point, the operation has switched to recovery but Czerwinski said no body had been located as of 5 p.m. The efforts were going to continue as long as the weather and daylight held out.

"It's a recovery operation, which means everything gets put to a pace where so safety for the responders is the utmost importance," said Polidoro. "To make sure everything is done properly and we don't lose anyone else."

Cases heard before Judge Mary Lou Rup on Tuesday, June 18.

William Jolin, 47, of Hoosac Falls, N.Y. had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf on three counts of rape and abuse of a child.

He was released on personal recognizance. Jolin allegedly sexually assault a girl who is now 16-years-old in Williamstown between July 1, 2012 and August 26, 2012.

Cases heard before Judge Mary Lou Rup on Wednesday, June 19.

Brian Boudreau Jr., 29, of Pittsfield had a not guilty plea entered on his behalf on a single count of armed robbery while masked.

He was ordered to be held at the Berkshire County House of Correction on $10,000 cash or $100,000 surety bail. Boudreau allegedly held up a clerk at Berkshire Pipe and Tobacco on May 19, 2013.

David Faria, 39, of Adams had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf on two counts of assault and batter and single counts of kidnapping, armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, intimidation of a witness or other person, carrying a dangerous weapon and threat to commit murder.

He was ordered to be held at the Berkshire County House of Correction on $20,000 cash or $200,000 surety bail. The incidents allegedly occurred in Adams on May 19, 2013 and involved a 36-year-old woman.

Brenton Rohane, 25, of North Adams had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf on two counts of indecent assault and batter and single counts of rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, furnishing alcohol to a minor and assault and battery by means of a hypodermic needle.

He was ordered to be held at the Berkshire County House of Correction on $50,000 bail. The incidents allegedly occurred in North Adams between February 1, 2013 and May 15, 2013 and involved a 17-year-old girl.

Misael Saez, 46, of North Adams had a not guilty plea entered on his behalf on a single count of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury in connection with an incident that took place at the Berkshire County House of Correction on April 13, 2013.

Saez is currently servicing a sentence there allegedly attacked another inmate. He was ordered to be held at the Berkshire County House of Correction on $8,000 cash or $80,000 surety bail.

Mahadi Shadi Thompson, 31, of Dalton pleaded guilty to two counts of larceny from a person.

He was sentenced to two and a half years at the Berkshire County House of Correction on one of the counts and placed on two year probation on the other and play $660 in restitution.

Thompson took money from employees of Convenience Plus in Pittsfield and 7-Eleven in Adams on December 10, 2012.

Cases heard before Judge Mary Lou Rup on Monday, June 10.

Ann Haughey, 21, of Pittsfield had not guilty pleas entered on her behalf on single counts of misuse of a credit card and fraudulent use of a credit card in connection with an incident that occurred in Pittsfield on February 16, 2013. She pleaded not guilty to single counts of breaking and entering the daytime with intent to commit a felony and larceny over $250 in connection with a break in Richmond on March 13, 2013.

She was released on $2,500 bail.

Brent Leonesio, 36, of Pittsfield had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf on a single count of possession of suboxone with intent to distribute - his second offense - and possession of clonazepam with intent to distribute - his second offense.

He was released on personal recognizance. Leonesio allegedly had drugs in his possession when he was arrested on an unrelated charge in Pittsfield on March 15, 2013.

Nathaniel Robinson, 43, of Queens, N.Y. had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf on single counts of trafficking in oxycodone and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

He was released on personal recognizance. The charges stem from a motor vehicle stop in May 8, 2013.
   
Timothy Welch, 44, of Pittsfield had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf on four counts of attempt to commit a crime, three counts of breaking and entering in the nighttime, three counts of malicious destruction of property and two counts of larceny from a building

He was released on personal recognizance. The charges stem from incidents in Lenox on February 19, 2013.

Cases heard before Judge Mary Lou Rup on Wednesday, June 12.

Brittany Gresser, 22, of Pittsfield had not guilty pleas entered on her behalf on two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault and battery and a single count of mayhem.

She was released on personal recognizance. The charge stem from a fight at Back Nine bar in Pittsfield on March 16, 2013 and involved two women, ages 21 and 25.

Alicya Hubbard, 22, of Pittsfield had not guilty pleas entered on her behalf on two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault and battery and a single count of mayhem.

She was released on personal recognizance. The charge stem from a fight at Back Nine bar in Pittsfield on March 16, 2013 and involved two women, ages 21 and 25.

Shanay Jones, 34, of Pittsfield had not guilty pleas entered on her behalf on two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault and battery and a single count of mayhem.

She was released on personal recognizance. The charge stem from a fight at Back Nine bar in Pittsfield on March 16, 2013 and involved two women, ages 21 and 25.

Cases heard before Judge Mary Lou Rup on Monday, June 3.

Jermaine Lane, 39, of Lanesborough pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of visual material of a child depicted in sexual conduct.

He was sentenced to two years at the Berkshire County House of Correction on one of those counts and given a one year sentence at the Berkshire County House of Correction on another county. He was placed on two years probation on the remaining counts.

Lane had child pornography on his cell phone on January 31, 2011.

Cases heard before Judge Mary Lou Rup on Tuesday, June 4.

Adam Pettijohn, 23, of Pittsfield pleaded guilty to single counts of illegal possession of a firearm, assault by means of a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

He was sentences to 18 months of a two and a half year sentence at the Berkshire County House of Correction on the illegal possession of a firearm and the assault by means of a dangerous weapon charges. He was given a concurrent three month term on the other charge. He was also placed on one year probation.
 
The incident occurred in Pittsfield on October 27, 2012. Additional single counts of illegal possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling were dismissed by the state.

Cases heard before Judge John Agostini on Wednesday, June 5.

Billie Jangrow, 42, of Adams pleaded guilty to seven counts of larceny of a firearm, five counts of breaking and entering a building in the daytime, four counts of conspiracy to wit: breaking and entering a building in the daytime, two counts of forgery of a check, two counts of uttering a false check and single counts of larceny over $250 - an ongoing and continuing offense from a person aged 60 or older - and receiving stolen property over $250.

She was placed on three years probation and ordered to pay $237.50 in restitution.

The charges stem from house breaks in Cheshire between April 13, 2012 and August 31, 2012.

Seven counts of illegal possession of a firearm were dismissed by the state.