Philipstown Man Stabbed to the Heart; Neighbor Charged

A Philipstown man has been charged with stabbing another man in a fight between neighbors, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department.

Raymond Hickey, 28, of 9 North Albany Post Road, Apartment C, in Philipstown, was arrested by sheriff’s deputies and charged with felony assault in the incident, which occurred at around 2 AM this morning (Sunday, May 3rd).

Hickey is accused of stabbing the victim, a 29-year-old man, who lives in the same building.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the apartment house at about 2:15 A.M. to investigate a 911 call reporting that a person had been stabbed there.

Upon their arrival, deputies found the victim in his apartment, bleeding profusely from a wound to his chest. An ambulance was summoned and the victim was transported to Saint Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, as the apartment house is located off U.S. Route 9 close to the Dutchess County line.

Doctors at the hospital performed emergency surgery to repair a laceration of the victim’s heart. The victim remains hospitalized in “stable” condition following the surgery, police said.

Deputy Sheriff William Verrastro was the first emergency responder at the scene. He located Hickey in his apartment and detained him while sheriff’s investigators canvassed the apartment house for witnesses. The sheriff’s forensics unit processed the crime scene.

According to information developed by investigators, Hickey and his neighbor became embroiled in an argument over noise, and a confrontation ensued outside their apartments. The dispute escalated into a physical altercation and Hickey allegedly stabbed the other man once in the chest with a knife.

Investigators recovered a knife at the scene that is believed to be the one that inflicted the wound.

Hickey was arraigned before Philipstown Town Justice Alan Steiner, who sent him to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bail bond, where he remained as of 1 p.m.

He is due back in court May 13.