BY: Keith S. Shikowitz, Editor in Chief/Investigative Reporter
This is a repost of this story
BY: Keith S. Shikowitz, Editor in Chief/Investigative Reporter
The district attorney in any community is a very important part of the criminal justice system. They prosecute the people the police arrest and try to put them in jail or prison, depending on the level of the crime they are accused of committing. The general public only hears about high profile cases that the office handles in the news.
There are many other cases these offices handle that never make even the local news most of the time. On February 5, 2026, DA Tom Walsh’s office held a breakfast for the County Legislators and others to explain the accomplishments of the past year.
One person I told about this was not happy. He told me I should have asked DA Walsh about the decision in the Evergreen fire case. He considers this a bad conclusion to the case.
Dominic Crispino I am the Deputy Chief Assistant District attorney here in Rockland County took on the role of emcee for the event. “On behalf of DA Tom Walsh and the whole Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, I want to welcome you and thank you for being here today for our annual legislative breakfast. I believe this is our 6th year doing it. We’re honored to have you here, as we reflect on our past year’s progress. We reaffirm our commitment to criminal justice and service to our community.”
He called on Haverstraw Councilman Ralph Kirschkel, to come up and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Afterwards everyone began to sit down until Crispino said, “Sorry, please remain standing for a performance of our national anthem sung by our very own ADA Helen Smith.”
There was even a jazz band out in the lobby area outside the meeting room. He was going to read a list of all the distinguished guests present but it would have taken additional hours to read that list and still get through the program. So, he just told everyone to give themselves a round of applause.
“We had a choice between breakfast or read the names. I chose breakfast, so we’re not reading the names. Of course, I have to acknowledge the district attorney’s office, all our attorneys, all our investigators, our support staff, all the chiefs, thank you very much.” It is now my distinct honor to introduce our leader, the leader of our office. He’s a dedicated career public servant, with, he chose fairness under the law, and he strengthen trust between the justice system and our community. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome DA Tom Walsh.”
Crispino retook the podium and introduced the first ADA presenter. “As you can see through your program you’re going to hear from members of our of our leadership team. They’re going to highlight some key initiatives, some accomplishments and some challenges that we’ve had throughout the year. The DA’s motto is to seek justice, serve justice, and do justice, and you’re going to get a little taste of that today. The first presenter is going to be Gerard Damiani. He’s a supervising Assistant District Attorney for the Special Victims Unit. He has a specifically challenging job as he deals with a lot of tough, tough cases. He’s been in the office for 8 years, so please welcome Jerry Damiani.
“Good morning guys. Thank you for having me today. My presentation is on a case that our office prosecuted.
I prosecuted, People v. Daniel Dorkin, but before I begin, I just want to give just a little introduction on the ICAC unit, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. It was created in 1998. It’s a task force that is national, comprised of federal, state, and local agencies. Under DA Walsh, our office had joined the ICAC task force in 2020, and now our office handles all cybertip reports in Rockland County. So just to give an idea of what type of cases our office ICAC unit handles, we handle ICAC cyber tips, what I referred to before. We handle any, crime or a charge in relation to images of children that are being disseminated on the internet. We also, investigate and prosecute cases of dissemination of intimate images, ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend, stuff of that nature, sexual extortion, and also we have, undercover chatting, operations.”
“So, this case, Daniel Dworkin, this individual was a sergeant at the Rockland County jail. He was a corrections officer at the sheriff’s department. He was arrested on November 21, 2024, by our unit at the DA’s office. He was then indicted on 64 counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and 64 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child. He ultimately pled guilty on September 16, 2025, to the whole 128 count indictment and he’ll be sentenced next week. He will have to register as a sex offender.”
In an update on this case that came out today 2/10/26, Dworkin was sentenced to 1-3 years in state prison before the Honorable David M. Ascher. He must also pay a $1,000 fine.
We see on television Public Service Ads (PSA’s) about not drinking and driving because they can cause harm or even death. Well, the following case explained by Supervising Assistant District Attorney Megan Garvey shows the results of doing that and the consequences for it.
“So good morning everybody. I’m going to apologize in advance. I could spend hours talking about this case, but we don’t have hours, so I’ll try to condense everything, but if I speak fast, just know that’s why. I’m going to be speaking to you about People versus Elizabeth Mitchell. This was a vehicular homicide investigation from this past year. On June 9, 2024, at around 1 o’clock in the morning, 911 calls came in for, Crashed into the thruway over past Scarborough.”
“When officers from the Orangetown Police Department responded, the driver’s door was wide open. There was no key inside of the car. The ignition was off, and there were two occupants. The first occupant was in the front passenger seat and the second was lying across the rear. Both occupants were unconscious and unresponsive and unfortunately, a few days afterwards, the front seat passenger passed away from his injuries, and the rear passenger was immediately taken to Montefiore in the Bronx where he underwent emergency spinal surgery. To give you an overview.”
They have the vehicle impounded, or Orangetown does and she said that additional search warrants were executed purposely avoided boring the attendees with the mechanics of this on the screen, that’s a diagram of what’s called an electronic data recorder (left hand side of the picture above the hood)
“In layman’s terms, a black box located within the vehicle. On your right is data that was obtained from this car in particular, and so from downloading that information, we were able to tell the speed at which the car was driving approximately, as well as the dynamics of the collision. It turns out that the car was traveling over 3 times the speed limit, barreling down Upper Depew Avenue. Eventually going through the stop sign on 9W attempting to make a left, but not able to, which is what led to the car crashing straight into the guard rail.”
Garvey went on to explain the procedures they followed in order to secure the evidence and get a conviction. In their investigation, they were able to determine that Mitchell was the one driving the car. They found that she had gone to a particular liquor store twice on that day and she was seen driving the car. They were able to really make her the main suspect when they found the same liquor bottles in her apartment that she was seen buying that day at the store. On top of those two visits, she bought more liquor at a Shell gas station that day. They executed another search warrant.
“We believe that she left the scene and that she drove recklessly, and she was, possibly impaired at the time. The Orangetown Police Department did tons and tons of work, and they spoke with all of her neighbors. It turns out that a neighbor of Elizabeth Mitchell’s was also an acquaintance and was with her at the apartment and the two passengers in the day leading up to the collision. He had a really good memory, and he remembered exactly what he saw her drinking and he was able to say confidently that she was intoxicated a few hours before the collision.”
When they went to arrest her, they ran into a major snag. Elizabeth Mitchell had actually gone back to California. The car in the collision had a California license plate and Mitchell is originally from California. Now they had to go through extradition proceedings with the indictment and a sealed arrest warrant and within 30 days between our office, the Orangetown Police Department, the sheriff’s office, the Marin County, California Sheriff’s Office, and Marin County, California District Attorney’s office Elizabeth Mitchell was found in her aunt’s basement in California and she waived extradition. They went to get her back to NY to face justice.
“Eventually, after seeing all the evidence that was presented against her, Elizabeth Mitchell pled guilty to each count of the indictment, as you’ll see on the screen, and she was sentenced to between 7 and 21 years in state prison. I said I would get back to the airbag. I will briefly tell you that another search warrant was executed for the car. Blood was observed on the airbag, and it turned out that it was Elizabeth Mitchell’s blood on the driver’s side airbag.”
This was further proof that Mitchell was the driver of the car at the time of the accident.
We hear about a lot of cases involving the abuse of elderly people across the country. One such case here in Rockland County involved a care giver named Dolores Anderson which happened in 2022. The victim in this case is a gentleman in his late 70’s who was living alone in Pearl River and he is suffering from serious, health conditions and given the circumstances, he decided to hire a live-in health aide, who ends up being the defendant. At first everything was going fine until she found out that she had to pay taxes on her income in quarterly installments from him because she was hired as an independent contractor. As such she was sent a 1099 form from the victim’s accountant.
First Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Devlin explained to everybody about a case that executive ADA Michael Peterson and she tried early last spring, People versus Oscar Garcia Garcia and Eustaquio Diaz Gutierrez. The case was about a murder that took place in Spring Valley in the early morning hours, just after 1:00 on December 29, 2022. The victim later identified as 54-year-old Luis Pinja Safavilla, was pronounced dead on scene. Initially, first responders saw this male lying in the middle of the street, and they thought it’s a hit and run. Within less than a half an hour that the detectives of the village of Spring Valley Police Department were on scene and that’s when the tide of what had occurred that night shifted. Police were quickly able to see that this wasn’t a hit and run. They observed just beneath Luis’s sweatshirt collar, a large gaping stab wound to Louis’s neck. Once detectives realized that they were no longer dealing with a hit and run, rather a homicide instead, they began to quickly scour the area for evidence.
“100 ft beyond Louis’s head in the brush, police discovered a 7-inch kitchen knife covered in what appeared to be blood and just about 50 to 100 ft beyond Luis’s feet detectives discovered a green baseball cap. Say what you will, but that green baseball cap became pivotal in the police investigation in this case. For the rest of that morning, just hours after this homicide the Village of Spring Valley police scoured video from that shopping center, which has maybe 10 storefronts in it, trying to piece together what had happened in the hours leading up to Louis’s death.”
Executive ADA Kristen Torino chose a case that she considered a little unusual called the People versus Thomas Robb which was somewhat similar to Megan’s because it has to do with extradition, but it’s a little unusual because it has, it went from an assault to an extradition from another country.
“On July 30th, 2022, Thomas Robb, was here vacationing from the United Kingdom. He was here from England, and he drove his rented BMW, vehicle down North Greenbush Road, going at approximately 49 to 60 MPH. When he got to the end, he turned down this one-way road and as you can see by the, the two, the two signs on either side of it, it says do not enter. There are two carefully placed signs there.”
According to Torino, he ignored those signs, continued through the one-way, came to the end, and then made a left directly onto 303. When he did such without stopping, he made, so he made this first error, then, then went right onto 303. He head on collided with a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze. That Chevrolet Cruze, and this is a little map of what happened, it shows you a diagram to show you how this occurred, he hit into vehicle two. Vehicle two then collided into vehicle three, which was a 2021 Dodge Challenger. As a result of this entire collision, the individuals that were located in vehicle two, included 4 of those were seriously injured. Two of them in vehicle two were 2 children under 8 years of age, and then the driver in vehicle 3 was severely injured. He had a broken sternum.
“After the crash, and we have video from this, Orangetown police went out after the crash, obtained a video.
immediately after the crash, Thomas Robb fled the vehicle. He was in the vehicle with 3 other individuals.
It was himself, and this is an important note because it’s going to carry us through the case. He was also in the vehicle with a Martin Robb, which is his twin brother, and 2 other people were there with him here on vacation together. By chance, an off-duty Mahwah Police Officer detective was behind them and immediately got out of his vehicle and went into motion. The 4 of them fled, 2 of them went in each direction. The Mahwah detective was able to capture them. The other 2, including Thomas Robb, went into a completely other direction. A little while later, Orangetown went in and started, canvassing the area to see if they could locate Thomas Robb and one of the officers found him approximately 1 mile away hiding in a gas station.”
He was found guilty to all 11 counts on the indictment with the promise from the judge that he will receive 364 days, getting credit for the time that he spent in England for all those months in England, so he got credit for that time. So, he ultimately then on May 1st, 2025, was ultimately sentenced and released and sent back to England. This time the real Thomas Robb went back to England.
“The reason the case got quite a bit of press was because, It was a situation where we don’t often have a sit we don’t often extradite people from another country. It is very difficult to even to do this in the United States, but to get this from England, is not always an easy thing to do. So it made it actually got a lot of press for the office, talking about how we brought him back, and that I think is one of the reasons why this case was asked to be presented today just to show you that no matter what the outcome is for us as prosecutors, we go forward. It’s a lot of work, and we do so because in the words of Calvin Coolidge, nothing in the world can replace persistence. So, we’re very proud of this case as well as our others, and, and I thank you.” Torino said.
James Dolan of the Appeals Bureau explained about two different cases that went to appeal. One of which is still in the appeal process and one in which Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg allowed a claim that John Adrian Velasquez’s was wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years. There is now a 150-million-dollar lawsuit as a result of this decision by Bragg.
Detective Lieutenant Steve Bale showed the benefit of using drone technology in criminal investigations. He showed how a drone can follow and find two people who he said so you what that looks like and we’re in luck because there happens to be an operation in progress. During his presentation he threw out a whole bunch of puns dealing with this technology, much to the chagrin and groans of the audience.
“So, it’s fair to ask, why does the district attorney’s office have a UAS program? The answer is very, very simple. Investigations increasingly involve aerial and digital evidence. Our investigators are already using these tools, which you see a couple of them right over here on your right. Our prosecutors also need to be ready to use that evidence in court and to prosecute crimes where drones are used. This program is about putting structure, expertise, and accountability around the technology that’s already here. Ignoring it doesn’t keep the status quo. It just leaves us high and dry. Early last year, we will launched a drone detection sensor.”
Executive ADA Michael Peterson gave a little speech about our community outreach. He explained what programs the office has to reach out to the community. He focused on four areas that they deal with.
The last speaker, and barker, Detective Tim Hayes and his partner (probably the cutest presenter of the morning) Canine Remmy.
There are dogs who are trained to sniff out everything from drugs to bodies. Well in today’s electronic jungle, Remmy has been trained to sniff out hidden electronic devices. She can fins thumb drives hidden behind walls, cell phones and anything electronic. Hayes had Remmy demonstrate her prowess.
When we were sitting at breakfast, I thought I heard a dog bark. I said to the person I was sitting with, “I hope that was a real dog and not someone imitating one. Thank God, it was Remmy.
When Remmy does her job, she does not get a doggie treat, her reward, is a toy. It’s a tennis ball actually, and, so she, she could have as many treats as she wants, but she’s really not allowed to play with toys, so she gets very excited when we’re going to do this. This is called a cursory search.
Crispino came back and thanked everyone for t heir presentations and the attendees for being there. He added that if anyone had any questions for the DAs they would be there to answer them. A number of people took them up on this while many just headed out to other things they had to do.