LI Man Sentenced After Near-Fatal Stabbing With Kitchen Knife: DA

RIVERHEAD, NY — A Calverton man was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison Wednesday after a near-fatal stabbing in Riverhead in 2022, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Ronald Oscal Cruz, 31, of Calverton, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault after stabbing a 37-year-old Riverhead man with a kitchen knife — causing severe physical injuries that led to the removal of a portion of the man's pancreas, Tierney said.

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on July 18, 2022, at about 10:45 p.m., Oscal Cruz stabbed the victim multiple times in the

back with a large kitchen knife, the DA said.

A plainclothes police officer observed Oscal Cruz chasing the man down Main Street in Riverhead; when the officer stopped Oscal Cruz, he was in possession of the kitchen knife, which was covered in blood, Tierney said.

The injured man was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he underwent three surgeries to control the bleeding from the lacerations to his stomach, spleen, pancreas, and colon, the DA said.

The following day, the man nearly died while being airlifted to South Shore University Hospital
for additional treatment; he survived after multiple hours of surgery, but part of his pancreas was removed, the DA said.

On January 12, Oscal Cruz pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, a violent felony, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft Jr., the DA said. On Wednesday, Senft sentenced Oscal Cruz to eight and one-half years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision, Tierney said.

He was represented by John Halverson, Esq.; Halvorsen was not immediately available for comment.

"Thankfully for the quick action of the police officer here, the defendant was arrested before anyone was killed and the victim received vital emergency care," said Tierney."We will not tolerate such violence in Suffolk County."