Darnell Curry, Assaulting a VA Police Officer, New York 2020

Buffalo Man Sentenced for Assaulting a VA Police Officer

A Buffalo man was sentenced to six months in prison for assaulting a VA police officer in a scuffle at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Buffalo, New York.

The incident occurred on February 19, 2020 at the Starbucks inside the Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Bailey Avenue in Buffalo. Darnell Curry, 27, of Buffalo, was convicted of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Curry engaged in a verbal argument with a female employee and three VA police officers approached him in response to a complaint. When Curry did not hear or acknowledge verbal commands, an officer touched his shoulder, leading to a scuffle with the officers. During the scuffle, Curry pulled an officer by the vest and into his body, striking the officer in the head and leaving a mark on his cheek below his left eye.

The officers took Curry to the ground, handcuffed, and detained him. The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the VA Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Algieri, and the VA Medical Center Police, under the direction of Chief Michael Steinmetz.

U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. sentenced Curry to six months in prison.

Contact: Barbara Burns, (716) 843-5817, (716) 551-3051

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/buffalo-man-sentenced-assaulting-va-police-officer