DA: N. Patchogue Teen Attacked Cop With Knife

A North Patchogue teen attacked a Suffolk County cop with a knife last week, sending the officer to the hospital with a head contusion, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota announced Wednesday.

Liam Rooney, 18, will be an arraigned on an indictment Thursday in Central Islip before State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho stemming from the incident on the afternoon of June 15.

Authorities say Rooney was approached by two police officers responding to a call about a man with a knife on Wilmarth Avenue. As the officers approached Rooney, who lives on Wilmarth Avenue, on the sidewalk to question him, the teen refused multiple demands that he remove his hands from his pockets, Spota said.

Rooney suddenly pulled a knife with a four-inch blade from his jacket pocket and hit one police officer in the head with the butt of the knife, and then slashed at the cop, cutting his shirt sleeve in two places, Spota said.

The officer received medical treatment for a head contusion at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital.

Rooney was arrested and charged with assault, fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest and two counts of second degree menacing in the second degree. He is in the Suffolk County jail in lieu of $105,000 cash bail.