Ex-NYC correction officer sentenced in stabbing of Nassau cop
Christopher Sargeant leaves Nassau County Courthouse after being sentenced Friday, April 4, 2014 in Mineola. He was arrested in the stabbing of an emergency services officer during a scuffle in March 2012. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A judge Friday sentenced a former New York City correction officer to 5 years in prison for an incident in which authorities said the "emotionally disturbed" man stabbed a police officer.
Christopher Sargeant, 34, of Hempstead, previously pleaded guilty to second-degree assault after the March 2012 attack at his home, authorities said.
Police had charged the military veteran with attempted murder of a Nassau County police officer, but authorities said a grand jury didn't indict Sargeant on that charge.
"No thank you," Sargeant said Friday, turning down a chance to speak at his sentencing.
Defense lawyer Greg Madey said Friday that his client had been on medical leave from his Rikers Island job because of mental health issues.
Authorities said Sargeant started working at Rikers in 2006 and was on sick leave for a year before his firing about two weeks before his arrest for the stabbing. "He probably had a very legitimate psychiatric defense, but if he went that route he could have been held indefinitely," Madey said.
An Emergency Service Unit officer needed surgery after Sargeant, who had served in the U.S. Marines, inflicted a 4-inch cut to the officer's stomach, police said. Authorities said he also wounded the 13-year police veteran's left arm.
A police spokesman said Friday that the officer made a full recovery and still serves in the Emergency Service Unit.
Police have said Sargeant struggled with officers, injuring three others, after they answered a call about a man throwing rocks and a brick at a business and a car.
Police followed Sargeant after he drove by them, but he wouldn't drop a folding knife after he got out of his car at his house, authorities said in court records. The knifing happened after police followed Sargeant inside and he began fighting officers who were trying to arrest him, according to authorities.
In addition to the 5-year sentence, Nassau County Judge Philip Grella gave the defendant a year of post-release probation, ordering him to pay more than $87,000 in restitution.
Authorities said most of the money would pay hospital bills for the officer Sargeant stabbed.
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Newsday Live: A chat with Joan Baez Join Newsday Entertainment Writer Rafer Guzmán and Long Island LitFest for an in-depth discussion with Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and social activist Joan Baez about her new autobiographical poetry book, "When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance."