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Bronx resident Rick Scocozza pleaded guilty in August 2021 to second-degree attempted burglary after holding a family at gunpoint while attempting to burglarize their Pelham Manor home in 2019.
On Friday, May 6, Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah announced that Scocozza has been sentenced as a persistent violent felony offender to a term of 14 years to life in state prison.
On Aug. 22, 2019, Rocah said that Scocozza - who was wearing camouflaged face paint at the time - entered a family’s Jackson Avenue home in Pelham Manor through the garage and held two members of the household at gunpoint while demanding they give him money.
When Scocozza ordered the victims to take him to a different area of the home to obtain more items, a third member of the family attacked him, causing Scocozza to drop the gun.
Rocah said that one of the victims picked up the gun, ran out of the house, threw it in a bush, and called the police while other members of the family held Scocozza down until officers could arrive.
Ultimately it was determined that the weapon Scocozza used to threaten the family was actually a BB gun.
Following his arrest, police also recovered a backpack that Scocozza was wearing during the armed robbery, which contained duct tape, zip ties, and a pillowcase.
“Being threatened in one’s own home with a gun is traumatizing. Rick Scocozza caused this family pain and torment when he entered their home that night,” Rocah said at the time of his guilty plea.
“I commend these victims for their bravery in such a frightening situation and I applaud the work of the Pelham Manor Police Department for acting quickly to get and keep this dangerous person off the street.”
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