Nassau Teen Sentenced For Throwing Bricks Off Overpass

A 19-year-old East Meadow man was sentenced to jail time on Monday for throwing cinder blocks and paving bricks onto the Meadowbrook Parkway from an overpass, one of which struck a car and permanently injured a woman.

Andrew Denton, 19, of East Meadow, was convicted in may of first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree assault and four counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief. He was sentenced by Acting Supreme Court Justice Meryl Berkowitz to 10 years in prison for the crimes.

His co-defendant, Jacob Palant, is due back for sentencing on Sept. 14. The defendant faces five to 25 years in prison on the top count.

"Andrew Denton and his co-defendant risked killing innocent people and caused permanent injuries when they threw paving stones and cinder blocks at passing vehicles from an overpass," said District Attorney Madeline Singas. "This senseless crime will not be tolerated and warrants a lengthy prison sentence because of the depravity of the defendants’ actions."

On two occasions on Dec. 26, 2015, the two threw paving bricks and cinder blocks at cars from a Meadowbrook Parkway overpass bridge in Uniondale. The overpass has high fences curved inward at the top to prevent this kind of behavior, but prosecutors say the two used extraordinary efforts to hurl the debris over the fence. During the first incident in the afternoon, they did not hit any of the vehicles they targeted. However, during the second incident, at approximately 8 p.m., the two teens struck two vehicles – a BMW and a Jeep – with bricks.

The BMW was the first car that was hit and was being driven by a 21-year-old man with his girlfriend, who were traveling northbound on the Meadowbrook to go out to dinner. Without warning, a paving brick smashed through the windshield, snapping off the rear view mirror and shattering glass all over the vehicle. The brick just missed the driver’s head but the shattered glass permanently damaged the left eye of the 22-year-old female passenger in the car. The woman has a permanent scar on her cornea, cannot drive at night and suffers from blurry vision in that eye. The driver of the BMW also suffered a cut to his shoulder and shoulder pain from where the brick struck him.

In the second incident, a 23-year-old woman was driving a Jeep to her sister’s home when it was struck on the roof and side of the car, narrowly missing the windshield. The Jeep sustained about $5,000 in damages.

New York State Police arrested the two teens on Jan. 1, 2016, following an investigation.

Photo: Nassau County District Attorney's office