PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release on January 4, 2007 Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
William.Smith@rcda.nyc.gov

Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 25-Year Maximum in Near-Fatal Stabbing of Ex-Girlfriend
***Luis Arroyo, 47, Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison Following December Conviction on Attempted Murder Charge at Trial, Arrested Following Standoff With Police ***

     STATEN ISLAND, NY - Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that Luis Arroyo (DOB: 12/29/1959), of Quentin Road, Brooklyn, has been sentenced to the maximum term of 25 years in prison. The sentence was imposed today in State Supreme Court by Justice Robert Collini who presided over the defendant’s trial which resulted in a guilty verdict on December 12, 2006 to the top charge of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree.

     The defendant was convicted on the charge related to a November 13, 2004 incident in which he attacked his then 42-year old ex-girlfriend in her Bionia Avenue residence. At approximately 10:00 a.m., Arroyo arrived at her apartment, slashed open her abdomen and handcuffed her lifeless body to a refrigerator and barricaded the front door of her home with the refrigerator. After a 40-minute standoff with police, Arroyo surrendered and was taken into custody. The victim, who met her assailant while working at a U.S. Post Service facility in Manhattan, was hospitalized for several months following the incident.

     District Attorney Donovan stated, “This defendant deserves every day of the maximum sentence imposed by Justice Collini. This brutal and unconscionable attack nearly cost the victim her life and has resulted in serious injuries which will scar her permanently.”

     The case against Arroyo was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Yolanda L. Rudich, Chief of the Sex Crimes/Special Victims Bureau and ADA Alex Shapiro. The defendant was represented by Alexsis Barravecchia, Esq.

-end-