$1M Cash Bail Set For Cold Spring Harbor Home Invader: DA

Cash bail was set at $1 million for an ex-con accused of breaking into a Cold Spring Harbor home on Thanksgiving night to find a house filled with family members ready to fight back, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Jeffrey Rice, 45, of Huntington Station, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to an eight-count indictment. He was charged with five counts of burglary, second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. Bail for Rice was also set at $2 million bond.

According to authorities, Rice entered the Fox Hunt Lane home through an unlocked side door at 11 p.m., grabbed a knife from the kitchen and went upstairs into the home. Rice entered a room that was occupied by a 7-year-old girl and her 85-year-old aunt and proceeded to assault the elderly woman, police say. Spota said Rice punched the 85-year-old woman “in the face numerous times with a closed fist, causing extreme swelling and bruising."

Rice exited the room and was then confronted by the 35-year-old female homeowner and became involved in a brief physical altercation with the homeowner’s 37-year-old husband, who was able to disarm and subdue Rice using a baseball bat, police say.

Rice was escorted outside the home by the husband, his brother and brother-in-law, who all held him outside until police arrived, police say. Officers responded to the scene and arrested Rice.

The 85-year-old-woman was taken to Huntington Hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The DA says Rice is a prior violent felon who served four years in prison for slashing a security guard who tried to to stop him from shoplifting five video games from a Miller Place supermarket in 2003.

Rice could serve a maximum of seven years in prison for the second-degree assault charge and 25 years in prison for the first-degree burglary charge.

Image via SCPD