A 54-year-old Valley Cottage man was convicted today in the of a neighbor at in Valley Cottage.
The pre-dawn incident triggered a five-hour manhunt, with the condo complex becoming an armed camp that was circled for hours by a search helicopter. of 585 Sierra Vista Lane was captured a short distance south of the complex in a wooded area.
"The routine of a Tuesday morning was tossed in to chaos by this frightening and unprovoked attack," Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said. "Without warning, the victim was senselessly but deliberately shot, causing life-threatening injuries. Fortunately, the victim survived. The defendant will now spend many years behind bars to pay for his heinous crime."
Goods opened fire on a 33-year-old neighbor who lived on the same floor in his condo building as the victim was walking his dog. The victim suffered multiple wounds in the back of his head, his lower back, arm and leg from shots fired from a .38 caliber pistol at close range.
The victim was taken to Nyack Hospital, where he underwent surgery. One of his arms was broken by a bullet.
Goods is scheduled to be sentenced in Rockland County Court on Oct. 11, when he faces up to a maximum of 25 years in state prison.
Immediately after the shooting, Goods fled the area. Clarkstown police set up a command post near the scene of the shooting and coordinated a search involving several police agencies, using police dogs and Rockland County's emergency helicopter.
Goods was tried before a jury in Rockland County Court in New City and was convicted of:
- Second-degree attempted murder.
- First-degree assault.
- Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
- First-degree criminal use of a firearm.
During his trial, 17 witnesses were called to testify against Goods, including the victim. Witnesses also included Clarkstown Police Officer Robert Reilly and Westchester County Police Officer Matthew Notaro, who testified as police dog experts about the tracking of evidence and the identification of Goods in the woods on the day of the shooting.
The case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant District Attorney Arthur Ferraro and Senior Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Parietti with the assistance of Cyril Kerr, an investigator with the Rockland District Attorney's Office.
