Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Robert Finley, 46, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for stabbing a man in the face with a broken glass bottle. According to court records, a minor traffic incident escalated into the near-deadly altercation when the victim stepped out of his vehicle to inspect the damage after his car was struck by the door of the defendant’s automobile in November 2020.

District Attorney Katz said, “A minor vehicle collision should have never escalated to brutal violence by this defendant, who was found guilty of assault in the first degree following a two-week-long trial. He has now been sentenced to prison for his criminal actions. I hope the victim continues to recover from the sustained injuries caused by the defendant.”

Finley, of Tilden Avenue in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, was convicted after trial last month of assault in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michelle Johnson.  Late yesterday, Judge Johnson imposed the sentence of 14 years in prison, to be followed by 5 years post release supervision.

District Attorney Katz said, according to trial records, on November 1, 2020, between 11:40 am and 11:55 am, the victim was driving past the defendant’s vehicle near Liverpool Street and 109^th Avenue when Finley opened his car door and struck the other automobile. The victim pulled over and stepped out of his car to inspect the damage, at which point Finley approached with a glass bottle. The defendant slammed the bottle on the victim’s head, then used shards of the broken glass to stab the victim in the cheek and mouth before fleeing the scene in his vehicle.

As a result of the attack, the victim sustained deep lacerations to his face that required approximately 150 stitches and continues to recover with visible scars.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Salmon, of the DA’s Career Criminal and Major Crimes Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Shawn Clark, Bureau Chief, Michael Whitney, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Major Crimes Daniel Saunders.