Accused Of Knife Attack At Prom Party

SPRING VALLEY, NY — A Spring Valley 21-year-old is accused of attacking someone he knew outside a Nanuet club where students from several local high schools were attending an after-prom party.

“The defendant wielded a knife in a brutal and vicious attack upon a victim celebrating a special high school rite of passage," Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe said Friday in announcing the indictment. "Fortunately, the victim survived his wounds. It was a senseless, but deliberate attack. This case will be vigorously prosecuted.”

Ahkim Santana of 40 South Cole Ave. has been arraigned on an indictment charging him with:

• One count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a class “B” Violent Felony
• One count of Attempted Assault in the First Degree, a class “C” Violent Felony
• One count of Assault in the Second Degree, a class “D” Felony

Prosecutors allege that on May 25, the victim was attending an “After Prom Party” at the Déjà Vu Island Grill in Nanuet. The party was attended by several local high schools. At 3 a.m., as the victim was leaving the club, Santana, who knew him, approached him and slashed his neck. Santana then fled, police said.

The victim, who was bleeding heavily, was rushed to Nyack Hospital. He received a five-inch laceration to his neck which required 26 stitches to close.

Following an investigation by the Clarkstown Police Department, Santana was arrested. He was arraigned before the Honorable Craig Johns of the Town of Clarkstown Justice Court and held on $500,000 bail.

Presumed innocent unless found guilty, he faces a maximum of 25 years in state prison on the top count of the indictment. The case is being prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Stephen Moore.

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