The man who allegedly threatened U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III with a knife in Albany last week will no longer be charged with attempted murder after the Albany County district attorney said he reviewed video footage from the incident.
Saul Morales-Garcia will instead face second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon charges, county DA Lee Kindlon said Wednesday. Morales-Garcia had faced second-degree attempted murder, menacing and weapon charges.
“A fair reading of the evidence and controlling case law informs that this incident did not rise to the level of attempted murder,” Kindlon said. “I spoke with U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III and he was in agreement,” Kindlon said.
Morales-Garcia, who Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said had been previously deported, will appear in Albany City Court on July 3 for further proceedings, “including a possible resolution” in the case, Kindlon said.
County deputies arrested Morales-Garcia, 40, in downtown Albany the night of June 17 after receiving a call “regarding a suspect who had threatened to kill a victim with a knife in the area of 40 Lodge Street” — the address of the Hilton Albany hotel. Authorities confirmed the person allegedly threatened was Sarcone, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.
A sheriff’s office release said Morales-Garcia allegedly “displayed a knife and aggressively charged at the victim while also making motions to cut the victim’s throat with the knife.”
