Man Menaces Trooper With Box Cutter in Putnam County

Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports the arrest of a Dutchess County man on multiple charges after he allegedly threatened a sheriff’s deputy and a state trooper with a box cutter following a disturbance in Putnam Valley.

A deputy sheriff and a state trooper responded at 10:09 p.m. March 27 to a 911 call reporting an altercation at a residence on Lake Drive in the Lake Peekskill section of Putnam Valley. Along Lake Drive near the residence, the deputy and trooper encountered one of the parties involved in the incident, Mark D. Tomkins, 36, of Holmes, NY.

Tomkins, who police said appeared to be intoxicated, became hostile. Police allege he pulled a box cutter from the waistband of his pants and brandished it in a threatening manner toward the deputy and trooper.

Ordered repeatedly to drop the weapon, he eventually complied, but then resisted arrest and had to be subdued, police allege.

The deputy charged Tomkins with menacing a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, both class E felonies, obstructing governmental administration in the second degree and resisting arrest, both class A misdemeanors, and disorderly conduct, a violation. The felonies and misdemeanors are punishable by up to seven years’ and one year’s incarceration, respectively, and by fines of up to $5,000.00 and $1,000.00, respectively.

He was arraigned before Putnam Valley Town Justice Gina Capone and was committed to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of $10,000.00 cash bail or bail bond pending a future court appearance.