Prison Sentence Handed Down in Dobbs Ferry Teen Assault Case

A Dobbs Ferry man was sentenced last week to prison time following the assault of two teens back in September of 2022. The defendant was also tried and sentenced in another hate crime case.

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Dobbs Ferry Man Assaults Two Teens, September 2022

The Westchester County District Attorney, in an official press release, stated that on September 29, 2022, just after 5:30pm, the alleged followed two 15-year-olds into a Dobbs Ferry Main Street restaurant. It was then that the defendant began yelling at them, punching one of the teens so hard that he fell to the ground. The press release indicated that when the second teen attempted to physically stop the defendant, they were then thrown through a glass storefront window.

Reports say that portions of the incident was captured on surveillance video.

Following the altercation, one of the teens was transported to Westchester Medical Center to receive treatment for a collapsed lung, a cervical spine fracture and multiple lacerations, while the other went to St. John’s Riverside Hospital due to swelling on the head, and pain to the face, jaw, chest and thighs.

Dobbs Ferry Man Arrested For Assault of Teens

Shortly following the incident on September 29, 2022, Dobbs Ferry Police arrested the defendant, later identified as Vincent Pappas, age 63, of Dobbs Ferry. He was remanded to Westchester County Jail.

Pappas pleaded guilty in Westchester County Court in September of 2023 to the felony charge of Assault in the First Degree, and Assault in the Third Degree, a misdemeanor. At the time of his arrest, he was said to be subject to give years of 'post-release supervision.'

On June 20th, Pappas was sentenced to six years in state prison, and also received a one-year sentence for the separate hate crime case for repeatedly threatening and harassing a 13-year-old Hispanic boy.

The hate crimes took place between July 5th and September 29th 2022, where Pappas repeatedly harassed and threatened the teen, who is of Guatemalan descent, also on Main Street in Dobbs Ferry. It was reported that he would repeatedly said 'he hated people from Guatemala and would kill the victim if he didn’t leave the country.'