(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Ronald Oscal Cruz, 31, of Calverton, was sentenced to eight and one-half years in prison after pleading guilty to Assault in the First Degree, for stabbing a 37-year-old Riverhead man with a kitchen knife causing severe physical injuries including the removal of a portion of the victim’s pancreas.
“Thankfully for the quick action of the police officer here, the defendant was arrested before anyone was killed and the victim received vital emergency care,” said District Attorney Tierney. “We will not tolerate such violence in Suffolk County.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on July 18, 2022, at approximately 10:45 p.m., Oscal Cruz stabbed the victim multiple times in the back with a large kitchen knife. A plainclothes police officer observed Oscal Cruz chasing the victim down Main Street in Riverhead. When the officer stopped Oscal Cruz, he was in possession of the kitchen knife covered in blood.
The victim was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center and underwent three surgeries to control the bleeding from the lacerations to his stomach, spleen, pancreas, and colon.
The following day, the victim nearly died while being airlifted to South Shore University Hospital for additional treatment. The victim survived after multiple hours of surgery, but part of his pancreas was removed.
On January 12, 2024, Oscal Cruz, pleaded guilty to Assault in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Anthony S. Senft Jr. On February 14, 2024, Justice Senft sentenced Oscal Cruz to eight and one-half years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. He was represented by John Halverson, Esq.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Keri Wasson and Tara O’Donnell of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective Richard Freeborn of the Suffolk County Police Department.