Man Sentenced To Prison For Stabbing Officer In The Face: DA

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - A Central Islip man was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison on Wednesday for stabbing a Suffolk police officer in the face during a welfare check in 2016, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini.

Mark Caraway, 42, was found guilty on May 2 of attempted aggravated murder of a police officer and five counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.

Supreme Court Justice John Collins sentenced him to 40 years to life in prison on the murder charge and 30 years in prison with five years of post-release supervision on one of the assault charges, to run concurrent.

Caraway was also sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years of post-release supervision on each of the remaining four counts of assault, to run concurrent to each other and consecutive to the first two counts.

“When someone attacks one of our police officers, that is an attack on our way of life,” Sini said. “This was not an easy case, but the jury came to the right verdict and the judge imposed the right sentence.”

On August 13, 2016 police responded to a 911 call requesting a welfare check on Caraway at his home on Oakland Avenue.

Caraway was reportedly acting irrationally, threatening to hurt himself and others in the residence, and had barricaded himself in the basement of the house.

“The officers could hear Caraway throwing things around and making noise in the room,” Sini said. “When the noise stopped, police thought the defendant might have injured himself so they entered the barricaded room to check on his wellbeing."

When police officers entered the room, Caraway, who was armed with two knives, slashed one of the officers in the face several times, nearly severing his nose.

The officer, a 24-year veteran of the department who was assigned to the Emergency Services Section at the time of the incident, underwent four hours of surgery for his injuries at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Caraway refused to drop the weapons and officers discharged a Taser to try to subdue him.

After multiple attempts to tase him, he continued to be aggressive and another responding officer fired a single shot at Caraway, striking him in the abdomen.

Caraway was treated for his injuries at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was arraigned on an indictment and remanded without bail on September 12, 2016 by Justice Stephen L. Braslow.

“The message today is clear: an assault on our officers will not stand,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said. “Day in and day out, they put on their uniforms and they go out to protect and serve. In particular, officers in the Emergency Service Section put themselves in harm’s way every day."

The trial began on April 23 and the jury deliberated for six hours before delivering a verdict of guilty on all charges.

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