Lava man sentenced to seven years for assault with a motor vehicle

Posted 5/3/17

District Attorney Jim Farrell announced today that Vernon DeGroat, 53, of Lava, NY, was sentenced in Sullivan County Court by County Judge Frank LaBuda today to an aggregate total of 7 years in …

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Lava man sentenced to seven years for assault with a motor vehicle

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District Attorney Jim Farrell announced today that Vernon DeGroat, 53, of Lava, NY, was sentenced in Sullivan County Court by County Judge Frank LaBuda today to an aggregate total of 7 years in state prison and 5 years of post-release supervision for his convictions for Attempted Assault in the 1st Degree, a class C violent felony, Assault in the 2nd Degree, a class D violent felony, and two counts of Driving While Intoxicated, both misdemeanors. Farrell said that DeGroat was convicted after a jury trial, by a Sullivan County Jury, after about two hours of deliberations in May of 2016.

Farrell said that on June 30, 2015, on School Street in the Hamlet of Narrowsburg, DeGroat intentionally drove his Ford Ranger pick-up truck at another man ramming him and causing him physical injury, including a broken clavicle and a head injury that required treatment at the region’s level 1 trauma center, Westchester Medical Center. 

The victim was airlifted to Westchester via helicopter after a response by the Narrowsburg Fire Department. In the process of striking the victim, DeGroat drove his truck into a house causing damage to the house, as well.  Farrell said the assault was the product of what appeared to be jealous rage by DeGroat and his belief that his wife was having an affair with the victim resulting in him intentionally driving his truck at the victim with the intent to seriously harm him.  

DeGroat’s driver’s license was revoked by the Court and he was ordered to pay approximately $5,000 in restitution for the damage caused to the house. DeGroat was arrested after an investigation by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department. Farrell said, “The Sheriff’s investigation here led to the arrest and successful prosecution of DeGroat who attempted to seriously injury the victim by ramming him with his truck, and the sentence handed down today will ensure that DeGroat will not resort to acts of violence against others for the next 7 years as he serves his well-deserved prison sentence.”

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