AUBURN - An Auburn man apologized to an Auburn Police Department officer for punching him when the officer stopped to investigate what he perceived to be the man's suspicious activity next to the First Love Ministries church.
Brian Thompson, 20, with a last known address of 182 Van Anden St., was sentenced in Cayuga County Court Friday to one year in Cayuga County Jail for the felony of second-degree assault. APD Sgt. Gregory Dann recovered a 10 3/4 knife strapped to Thompson's leg.
He looked directly into the gallery at Dann as he apologized. “It's been hard to deal with doing wrong,” Thompson said.
Thompson said that he had recently gotten engaged and hoped to go to college and succeed in a career. “I just hope you give me a second chance,” Thompson said.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Jon Budelmann held up a picture of the knife. He said Thompson had been on probation for a lesser offense at the time of the incident and had contact with the criminal justice system since he was 13.
Dann said that he had been on a routine nighttime patrol April 18, fulfilling the APD's goal of checking on the safety of businesses and homes at night, when he saw a man who appeared to be lurking next to First Love Ministries, a church that had been burglarized before.
“Little did I know I would shortly be struggling for my life,” Dann said. Dann said that after he found the knife and told Thompson he was under arrest, Thompson struck him and tried to stab him with the knife.
Dann sustained abrasions, but was not injured by the knife.
“The fact the defendant did not accomplish his goal does not mean he shouldn't be punished,” Dann said.
Judge Peter Corning said there was some legal issues in the case and because Thompson did not have a prior felony that local jail time instead of state prison was appropriate. Thompson's attorney, David Elkovitch, said Thompson hunted and fished and the knife was used for that purpose.
Also in court:
€ Johnathon Alvarado, 34, originally of Fulton; Lori MacDonald, 36, of 365 Third St., Fulton; and Donna Vermette, 22, originally of Fulton and now a state prison inmate all were sentenced for stealing a Sony PlayStation, video games, a bow and arrows and other items from a Sterling residence April 10 to get money to buy drugs.
Alvarado was sentenced to two to four years in state prison; he was on parole for a prior felony conviction. MacDonald was sentenced to five years probation; she had no prior felony record. Vermette was sentenced to two to four years in state prison and directed to shock camp, which will run at the same time as a similar sentence she is serving for violating her parole for a burglary conviction in Oswego County.
€ Albert Cole, 38, of 4512 Grange Hall Road, Moravia, was sentenced to one month in the Cayuga County Jail, six months of homebound detention and three years probation for misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated and two misdemeanors of second-degree attempted vehicular assault. He admitted driving drunk New Year's Day with a 0.13 blood alcohol count, resulting in an accident that injured two people in an oncoming vehicle. One accident victim suffered a broken foot and another required surgery for a knee injury.
Cole could have been sentenced in September, but Corning gave him another month to demonstrate he was committed to staying sober.
Cole's attorney, Dennis Sedor, said Cole was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week and was involved with outpatient counseling sessions several times a week.
“I've done everything possible to get sober and stay sober,” Cole said. Cole asked that he be given a sentence that would allow him to continue working and be less a burden on his family.
Corning said that he hoped his sentence would help Cole keep working, but also that he would learn his lesson about drunk driving.
“We all know that denial is a cornerstone of all alcoholics,” Corning said.
Cole's driver's license was revoked, but he can apply to the court to have a conditional license that would allow him to travel by the use of an ignition interlock device, which requires drivers to demonstrate their sobriety before they can start their car.
€ Camillo Douglas, 25, a state prisoner being held in Attica Correctional Facility, entered a not guilty plea three felony charges related to the allegation he assaulted corrections officers as they tried to subdue him during a strip search.
Budelmann said the frisk was being conducted because an alarm indicated Douglas might be in possession of contraband; the search was being conducted prior to Douglas and other inmates being let out into Auburn Correctional Facility's recreation yard Aug. 23, 2005. As Douglas was being searched, he allegedly took an item from the front of his pants and swallowed it while resisting the officers trying to subdue him. Officers later found marijuana in his cell, Budelmann said.
Motion arguments were scheduled to be heard in the case Dec. 21.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
He looked directly into the gallery at Dann as he apologized. “It's been hard to deal with doing wrong,” Thompson said.
Thompson said that he had recently gotten engaged and hoped to go to college and succeed in a career. “I just hope you give me a second chance,” Thompson said.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Jon Budelmann held up a picture of the knife. He said Thompson had been on probation for a lesser offense at the time of the incident and had contact with the criminal justice system since he was 13.
Dann said that he had been on a routine nighttime patrol April 18, fulfilling the APD's goal of checking on the safety of businesses and homes at night, when he saw a man who appeared to be lurking next to First Love Ministries, a church that had been burglarized before.
“Little did I know I would shortly be struggling for my life,” Dann said. Dann said that after he found the knife and told Thompson he was under arrest, Thompson struck him and tried to stab him with the knife.
Dann sustained abrasions, but was not injured by the knife.
“The fact the defendant did not accomplish his goal does not mean he shouldn't be punished,” Dann said.
Judge Peter Corning said there was some legal issues in the case and because Thompson did not have a prior felony that local jail time instead of state prison was appropriate. Thompson's attorney, David Elkovitch, said Thompson hunted and fished and the knife was used for that purpose.
Also in court:
€ Johnathon Alvarado, 34, originally of Fulton; Lori MacDonald, 36, of 365 Third St., Fulton; and Donna Vermette, 22, originally of Fulton and now a state prison inmate all were sentenced for stealing a Sony PlayStation, video games, a bow and arrows and other items from a Sterling residence April 10 to get money to buy drugs.
Alvarado was sentenced to two to four years in state prison; he was on parole for a prior felony conviction. MacDonald was sentenced to five years probation; she had no prior felony record. Vermette was sentenced to two to four years in state prison and directed to shock camp, which will run at the same time as a similar sentence she is serving for violating her parole for a burglary conviction in Oswego County.
€ Albert Cole, 38, of 4512 Grange Hall Road, Moravia, was sentenced to one month in the Cayuga County Jail, six months of homebound detention and three years probation for misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated and two misdemeanors of second-degree attempted vehicular assault. He admitted driving drunk New Year's Day with a 0.13 blood alcohol count, resulting in an accident that injured two people in an oncoming vehicle. One accident victim suffered a broken foot and another required surgery for a knee injury.
Cole could have been sentenced in September, but Corning gave him another month to demonstrate he was committed to staying sober.
Cole's attorney, Dennis Sedor, said Cole was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week and was involved with outpatient counseling sessions several times a week.
“I've done everything possible to get sober and stay sober,” Cole said. Cole asked that he be given a sentence that would allow him to continue working and be less a burden on his family.
Corning said that he hoped his sentence would help Cole keep working, but also that he would learn his lesson about drunk driving.
“We all know that denial is a cornerstone of all alcoholics,” Corning said.
Cole's driver's license was revoked, but he can apply to the court to have a conditional license that would allow him to travel by the use of an ignition interlock device, which requires drivers to demonstrate their sobriety before they can start their car.
€ Camillo Douglas, 25, a state prisoner being held in Attica Correctional Facility, entered a not guilty plea three felony charges related to the allegation he assaulted corrections officers as they tried to subdue him during a strip search.
Budelmann said the frisk was being conducted because an alarm indicated Douglas might be in possession of contraband; the search was being conducted prior to Douglas and other inmates being let out into Auburn Correctional Facility's recreation yard Aug. 23, 2005. As Douglas was being searched, he allegedly took an item from the front of his pants and swallowed it while resisting the officers trying to subdue him. Officers later found marijuana in his cell, Budelmann said.
Motion arguments were scheduled to be heard in the case Dec. 21.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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