24-Year-Old Admits Role In Brutal Assault of MTA Train Conductor

PORT JERVIS, NY — A Hudson Valley man has admitted to his role in the violent attack of a train conductor.

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that 24-year-old Damarion Gulley, of Wallkill, pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree assault and second-degree bail jumping for assaulting an MTA train conductor and fleeing the jurisdiction when the charges were pending. Under the plea agreement, the DA's Office will recommend that he be sentenced to three years in prison to be followed by three years post-release supervision on the assault charge and one to three years in prison on the bail jumping charges, to run consecutively, when he is sentenced on May 8.

According to court documents, on September 7, 2023, an MTA train conductor at the Port Jervis train station saw Gulley and three others running across the train tracks in front of a train. After seeing their behavior, the conductor would not permit them on the train, which led to Gulley and the others following the conductor off the train platform and striking the conductor in the face multiple times with a closed fist and a railroad padlock. During the assault, the conductor suffered a broken jaw.

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An investigation led the police to Gulley, as well as a 21-year-old co-defendant, Kamrin Deleon, who previously pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentence. The two others involved were juveniles whose matters were handled in Orange County Family Court.

While Gulley's case was pending, he failed to appear in court and had to be returned to the jurisdiction by law enforcement from an out-of-state location, almost a year after fleeing.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Port Jervis Police and the MTA Police Department for their investigation which led to the arrest of Gulley.

"That a train conductor would be violently assaulted simply for doing his job is unacceptable," Hoovler said. "And while this defendant attempted to shirk responsibility for his crimes by fleeing the jurisdiction, law enforcement would not rest until he was returned to face justice. The plea and anticipated sentence should stand as a stern warning, we will not permit violence against train conductors."