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Dobbs Ferry resident Vincent Pappas was sentenced on Thursday, June 20 to six years in state prison for assaulting the two teenagers, as well as a separate one-year sentence for harassing and threatening a 13-year-old boy, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office announced on Friday, June 21.
According to the DA's Office, on Sept. 29, 2022, at around 5:30 p.m., Pappas followed the two teenagers into a restaurant on Main Street in Dobbs Ferry and began yelling at them before punching one of them in the face.
The boy then fell on the ground as Pappas continued to punch him, prompting the other teenager to try physically stopping the assault. However, Pappas then pushed the second victim through the restaurant's glass storefront window.
One victim was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla and treated for a collapsed lung, a cervical spine fracture, and several cuts. The other was taken to St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers the day after the incident and treated for swelling on the head and pain to the face, jaw, chest, and thighs.
Pappas was arrested a short time after the attack.
In addition to his sentence for this incident, Pappas was also convicted of a hate crime in connection to his repeated harassment and threatening of a 13-year-old boy of Guatemalan descent, officials said.
Between July 5 and Sept. 29, 2022, Pappas would repeatedly follow the boy on a Main Street sidewalk in Dobbs Ferry and tell him he hated people from Guatemala, often adding that he would kill the boy if he did not leave the country.
While he was already in custody at the Westchester County Jail, Pappas was again arrested on Jan. 19, 2023, in connection to the hate crime. He has remained in jail since the September 2022 assault.
In connection with the attack at the restaurant, Pappas pleaded guilty to first-degree and third-degree assault in September 2023. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated harassment in connection with the hate crime on Thursday, Feb 1, officials said.
In addition to his sentence, he will have to serve five years of supervised release.
One of Pappas' victim's mothers made a statement in court during sentencing proceedings:
"While he survived his physical injuries, the mental trauma will stay with him for the rest of his life....We are grateful for the team who brought this...man to justice and hope that he will never be able to harm anyone ever again," she said.
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah also said Pappas' victims will remain haunted by his actions:
"While the teenagers have been able to recover from their physical injuries, all three victims continue to deal with the trauma inflicted by this defendant," Rocah said.
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