Nassau Man Gets Jail Sentence For Trying To Kill Friend

A Hempstead man was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Monday for trying to murder a former friend in October 2015.

James Jacobs, 31, was driving on Long Beach Road in Hemsptead at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 4, 2015, when he saw his former friend and his mother in a car. Jacobs chased them until he caught up with their car, then fired at least three times with a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol into the car. He missed, and the two managed to escape and call police.

Jacbos was arrested later the same day by the Hempstead and Nassau County police departments.

“James Jacobs carried out a vendetta against his former friend and jeopardized the lives of everyone around him when he fired his weapon into a car – on a public street – in the middle of the afternoon,” said District Attorney Madeline Singas. “Thanks to the quick work of the Nassau and Hempstead police departments, and our prosecutors, our county is now safer with James Jacobs behind bars.”

Jacobs had been friends with his victim for many years, until he was sent to prison in 2010 for an unrelated incident. Jacobs held his victim responsible for the prison sentence and began to threaten him, which escalated into the attack.

Jacobs was convicted on June 12, 2017 of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Photo: Nassau County District Attorney's office