Pearl River Man Guilty in Assault on Corrections Officer in Jail

A Pearl River man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a Rockland County corrections officer in the in New City and will be sentenced to three years in prison for the 2011 incident, according to .

, 50, of 138 Bogart Ave, Pearl River, will also serve 18 months of post-release supervision when he gets out of prison. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, a felony, just as selection for a trial in Rockland County Court in New City had been completed.

Zugibe said Vines assaulted a corrections officer at the Rockland County Correctional Facility on Oct. 4, 2011, as he was taken back to the jail following his conviction in court on three misdemeanor charges in conncection with his arrest for tresspassing at the home of his father on Sickeltown Road in West Nyack.

Vines’ trespassing arrest on May 4, 2010, came two days after Clarkstown police advised Vines that he was not welcome at his father’s residence, and would face arrest if he was found there. According to the charges, Vines’ sister has power of attorney over their father, and had notified authorities that he was unwelcome.

When Vines was arrrested by Clarkstown police, he struggled and town officers used a Taser to subdue him.

Following that incident, Vines’ sister obtained an court-issued order of protection against her brother. During the summer of 2010, James Vines violated the order of protection on several occasions, including one incident in which he blocked his sister from leaving a Ramapo gas station with his car, leading to traffic delays on New Hempstead Road.

Vines was arrested and charged with violating the order of protection twice during the summer of 2010. Zugibe said Vines has more than 30 open charges in Rockland County, ranging from harassment to disorderly conduct, involving 15 people.

The cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nabeela McLeod and Assistant District Attorney Patrick Fischer.