Hudson Valley Man Stabs 3 Outside Restaurant: Police

LIBERTY, NY — A Sullivan County man was accused of stabbing three different men in the village of Liberty.

The Village of Liberty Police Department said, shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a report of a man with a knife outside a restaurant on School Street.

Responding officers found two men, ages 42 and 20, at that location suffering from apparent cuts and puncture wounds to the neck and abdomen.

Because ambulance services were not available, the two men were taken by private vehicle with a police escort to Garnet Health Medical Center.

The 42-year-old was flown via medivac helicopter to Garnet Health Medical Center Middletown.

Within minutes, police said they received reports of a third stabbing victim who had left the School Street location for a private residence on Chestnut Street.

Liberty police began an investigation and around 2 a.m. a person matching a description given to authorities.

The man, identified as Darwin Banegas-Ortiz, 38, of Liberty, was taken into custody without incident.

A black folding utility knife that was used in the stabbings, police said, was found in the area where he was arrested.

Banegas-Ortiz had a cut on his arm and was taken by ambulance to Garnet Medical Center Middletown where he was treated and released to officers.

During their investigation, police said they learned Banegas-Ortiz tried to stab a fourth person on School Street but was not successful.

He was charged with two counts of second-degree attempted murder, one count of first-degree attempted assault, one count of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, felonies, and one count of second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor.

Banegas-Ortiz was arraigned in the Town of Liberty Court and sent to the Sullivan County Jail without bail pending a future court appearance.

The Village of Liberty Police Department was assisted in the investigation by the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Police and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office K-9 division.