ULSTER HEIGHTS � In a scene reminiscent of a weekly television crime drama, the Ulster County Sheriff's Office, along with a number of units from the New York State Police, this past Wednesday set up roadblocks in the Ulster Heights area west of the Village of Ellenville in an attempt to locate fugitive murder suspect Richard Giga.

Giga had been undergoing treatment at the Renaissance Project rehab center at 767 Ulster Heights Road in the Town of Wawarsing, when he apparently had a dispute with a security guard at the facility early Wednesday morning. Giga attacked the guard, who is identified as Leland Wood, 61, of Napanoch, stabbing and killing him. Giga then apparently was able to briefly take hostage a female nurse who works at the facility, forcing her to drive him toward the Village of Ellenville. During this, Giga stabbed the nurse in the abdomen several times, which caused the vehicle to overturn in an area just south of the intersection of Ulster Heights and Marcus Roads. He then fled on foot, leaving the nurse behind.

Fortunately, the nurse was able to flag down a Good Samaritan, who dialed 911 and took her to Ellenville Regional Hospital. She was later transported to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, where she underwent surgery and is reported to be in stable condition.

Giga, however, was still at large as of Wednseday afternoon, with more than 80 officers, including members of the Ulster County SWAT Team and several police helicopters, engaged in a manhunt that encompasses some very hilly and densely wooded terrain.

"We're out there on foot, and we're also out there on ATVs," said Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum. "We also have the State Police and aviation units. We have roving patrols out in the area now, also."

Van Blarcum also confirmed that the search is now employing dogs in an attempt to locate the suspect.

"Numerous K-9s from our office are here, and we're trying to find a track with a State Police bloodhound," he said.

Van Blarcum confirmed that the altercation which led to the death of Mr. Wood took place at approximately 3:08 a.m. Wednesday morning. He also said Giga had been at the Renaissance facility for approximately six months, though he was unable to confirm whether Giga was there as a part of a court-ordered treatment, nor was he able to confirm which substances Giga was undergoing treatment for in the "non-secure" facility.

He did, however, confirm that Giga has at least one prior arrest, which occurred somewhere in Rockland County.

"We never had him in our facility," Van Blarcum said. "He had been arrested in Rockland County in 2008."

In addition to the difficult terrain in the Ulster Heights area, there are numerous dilapidated structures, as well as a number of seasonal bungalow colonies, most of which have now been boarded up for the season. The presence of so many structures would make this kind of search all the more difficult.

Wawarsing Town Supervisor Lenny Distel, who lives in the Ulster Heights area and served for 37 years as a corrections officer, says that this area also contains many wetlands, which, in addition to the seasonal buildings, would further complicate the search.

"There's a million bungalows and all of them are vacant now," Distel said. "And there are some pretty big swamps. It's easy to get lost back in there."

The manhunt also forced local school districts to take precautionary measures. The Ellenville Central School District issued a two-hour delay on the recommendation of Van Blarcum and Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattricion. When police didn't have the suspect in custody by 8 a.m. Ellenville Superintendent Lisa Wiles decided that it would be prudent to keep the kids home for the day.

"We didn't want them to be standing at the bus stop while all of this was going on," Wiles said.

Wiles also pointed out that the numerous roadblocks in the area would have made transportation particularly difficult.

The Rondout Valley School District, though not in the immediate area of the search, went to what is known as a "lockout," a procedure which prevents unauthorized persons from entering the school premises. This type of response is used when the threat "is general or the incident is occurring off of the school property," according to the district website. Though regular classroom activities continued, all afterschool programs were cancelled.

The Good Samaritan who rescued the nurse was unwilling to speak to the Journal. Another resident, a woman who did not wish to be identified but knows the man in question, said that the man was driving to work when he was flagged down by the wounded nurse.

"He heard a woman screaming and he stopped his truck," she said. "She was yelling 'He stabbed me! He stabbed me!' and then she practically dove into his truck."

A Journal employee who lives in Ulster Heights, and knows some of the individuals involved, was also in the area on Wednesday morning and happened upon the scene of the overturned vehicle before the police had sealed the area. She said that there are rumors circulating in the neighborhood that Giga had fled the Renaissance facility earlier that night, allegedly to go to Saugerties where his girlfriend lives. At some point, however, Giga allegedly returned to Renaissance and the violent scene unfolded.

There were also comments from a number of Ellenville residents that Giga had been seen regularly in the Village of Ellenville during the summer months, and that he was a quiet individual, belying the horrific acts of which he is accused.

Late Update: At approximately 4:30 p.m., Giga was located hiding in an unoccupied. residence that was under construction on Cape Road in the Town of Wawarsing. Deputies and Detectives from the Ulster County Sheriff's Office, members of URGENT, New York State Police, Ellenville Police Department, DEP, County Emergency Response Team and CNET (Community Narcotics Enforcement Team) converged on the resdience and, after almost two hours of speaking to Giga, were able to convince him to turn himself in without further incident at 6:13 p.m.

Giga was taken to the Kingston Hospital by Ellenville Ambulance for injuries sustained in an earlier motor vehicle accident where he was admitted for his injuries.

Giga was arraigned at the hospital. and remanded to the Custody of the Ulster County Sheriff with no bail, on the charge of Murder in the 2nd degree and is to reappear in Court at a later date.