Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Darieo St. Leger, 34, of Islip Terrace, pleaded guilty to Assault in the First Degree, for slashing a bouncer with a sharp object at a bar in Huntington in October 2022.
“This enraged defendant senselessly slashed a bouncer’s face, causing permanent and severe injuries. He chose to attack the victim, who was just doing his job, simply because he was not allowed in,” said District Attorney Tierney. “With this plea and upcoming sentence, we have succeeded in getting a dangerous individual off our streets. Horrific assaults such as these will not be tolerated in Suffolk County, and those who chose to commit such crimes will be brought to justice.”
According to the investigation and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on October 23, 2022, about approximately 12:40 a.m., at a bar in Huntington, St. Leger got into an argument with the bouncer who was not allowing St. Leger in. St. Leger then slashed the bouncer across the face, from ear to mouth, with a sharp object. The slash caused an artery in the victim’s cheek to be severed. St. Leger fled the scene after the attack.
The victim was rushed to Huntington Hospital to undergo lifesaving emergency surgery which included multiple blood transfusions. The victim had difficulty hearing out of his left ear and was unable to blink out of his left eye, so he was required to undergo an immediate second surgery to reattach a nerve ending that was severed during the attack. He also sustained a scar along the entire left side of his face.
With the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, St. Leger was arrested at LaGuardia Airport in December 2022.
On November 28, 2023, St. Leger pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Anthony S. Senft, Jr., to Assault in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony. He is due back in court on January 30, 2024, and is expected to be sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by five years post release supervision. St. Leger is being represented by Jonathan B. Manley, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Patrick E. Fedun of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective Brandon Reiber of the Suffolk County Police Department’s First Squad, as well as from Detective Thomas Corso of the United States Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.
