Cortlandt Domestic Dispute Ends With Felony Arrest of Peekskill Man

News was just recently released by the New York State Police, detailing an incident that transpired last week in the Town of Cortlandt in Westchester County.

Domestic Dispute and Arrest Details

According to the official press release just released by the NYSP, the incident in question occurred last week on Tuesday June 18,2024. Members of the New York State Police were alerted to and responded to a domestic dispute call in Cortlandt.

When officers arrived on the scene they began an investigation and attempted to diffuse the situation. In the investigation, officers determined that one Peekskill man identified as 37-year old, Kevin M. Powell was "unwelcome at the residence". This residence did not belong to Powell and according to the report, Powell entered an outbuilding in an attempt to steal property.

In the press release, it is unclear whether or not Powell actually was or was not successful in stealing anything. It is also unclear what lead to the situation coming to an end.

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What the press release does say though is that two days later on June 20, New York State Police arrested Powell and charged him with the crime of Burglary in the 3rd Degree.

Defining Burglary and Potential Penalty

In the state of New York, Burglary in the 3rd Degree is classified as a class D felony. In New York, a burglary charge can be in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree and when seeing the differences between the three charges, it begins to make sense why the press release was seemingly short on certain specifics in the case.

In New York Penal Law, a prosecutor must prove two particular important points in a case of 3rd degree burglary. Those points would be that the accused did unlawfully enter the premises and the second would be premeditation. Premeditation in this scenario means proving that one entered the premises with the intent to commit a crime.

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It does not state that one actually has to have successfully stolen anything to be charged with Burglary in the 3rd degree. That is where "intent" is important because without being able to prove intent, then the charge would constitute a charge for trespassing, not burglary.

This leaves the question of what is the penalty for being found guilty of burglary in the 3rd degree. While this would be a felony charge, a penalty for being found guilty may vary. A maximum punishment for burglary in the 3rd degree could be up to seven (7) years behind bars.

However, if one were to have a no prior felony charges or at least no felonies charges within a 10 year period, a judge may not even sentence a guilty party to prison. If ones record is clean, they may just be penalized with probation for a specific amount of time. If one were to even have one prior felony charge, they could potentially be sentenced to 2-4 years in prison.