45°
Benjamin Blohm claimed he kicked the pipe out of frustration because a prosecutor during a July court hearing pushed to proceed with a case against him when he hadn’t yet retained an attorney. Blohm was facing charges at the time of breaking into cars in Lodi and Teaneck.
“I’m sorry people got hurt. I had no intention to hurt anyone to hurt anyone or cause any damage,” he told Superior Court Judge Edward Jerejian this morning at the Hackensack courthouse. “I’m a heroin addict. I was living day to day.”
Blohm and his attorney, Anthony Alfano (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia) No re-use without hyperlink & watermark
The judge, in turn, said he nonetheless was sentencing him to the maximum term under Blohm’s plea deal with prosecutors.
“Mr. Blohm: Think long and hard about your conduct. You’re only 28 years old,” Jerejian said, calling the sentence “appropriate” for the crime.
Jerejian noted that Blohm had 22 arrests as an adult and was in the courthouse to answer charges on two other crimes.
“Society needs to be protected from you and your excuses,” the judge told him.
Surveillance video shows Blohm, 28, breaking the pipe outside a third-floor courtroom with two kicks, creating a swelling pool of water that eventually flooded the building — closing it for two days — damaged some of the county prosecutor’s office and sent both the sheriff’s officer and Superior Court Judge Estela De La Cruz to the hospital.
Assistants Bergen County Prosecutor Yomara Castro agreed with the sentence for guilty pleas to criminal mischief in the water-pipe incident and theft in the car burglaries.
“His behavior speaks volumes,” Castro said. “There is definitely a risk that he’ll commit another offense.
“A drug problem does not justify his actions.”
Blohm has been behind bars for nearly eight months, resulting in a reduction of his sentence by 229 days.
Benjamin Blohm (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia) No re-use without hyperlink & watermark
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.
