Diane Valden is reporting for The Columbia Paper Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka has requested the state Attorney General’s Office take over the investigation into the assault of a local man at a private residence in Kinderhook over the July 4th holiday weekend. Local business owner Alex Rosenstrach and his Deputy Sheriff wife, Kelly Briscoe Rosenstrach, hosted the annual event at their home located at 3193 County Route 21, where the alleged assault occurred. Harold Handy, owner and operator of Handy Repairs, was severely beaten and had to be transported by ambulance to Albany Medical Center in the early morning hours of July 5. Handy's relatives have said he was "lucky to be alive," but details of his injuries and recovery remain elusive. The Columbia Paper learned from a source close to the investigation that the DA made the request to hand the case over to the AG's office early last week after new information about the matter came to light. Asked to confirm the information July 29, Czajka said he had no official comment. The Sheriff’s Office has come under criticism since the assault occurred because it took the lead on an investigation involving one of its own, albeit with the assistance of the State Police Special Investigations Unit. Czajka has offered little or nothing publicly about the investigation during the past month. According to Valden, the request for the AG’s Office to take control of the investigation, does not mean that Czajka has disqualified himself from the case entirely if the AG declines to step in. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.