Petty Pleads Guilty to Armed Robbery in East Hampton Knifepoint Kidnapping Case

Darius Petty, who was charged with kidnapping and multiple robbery counts by East Hampton Town Police last September, pleaded guilty in county court to a single count of second-degree armed robbery, a violent felony.

Under the plea agreement, he is slated to be sentenced to three years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision. If he was convicted as charged — three counts of kidnapping in the second degree and robbery in the first degree and four counts of attempted robbery in the first degree — he could have been sentenced to 25 years or more in prison.

He will be sentenced by Justice Timothy Mazzei on July 29.

Petty, 35, has served nearly a year already, having been in custody ever since his September 4, 2024, arrest.

Police said at the time that the day prior to his arrest, Petty approached a car in the parking lot by the East Hampton Senior Center. Three local residents — two men and a juvenile — were seated in the car. Petty put a knife to the throat of one of them, demanding money, then ordered the trio to drive to a nearby business, where an attempt to withdraw cash was unsuccessful, before driving to Bank of America on Newtown Lane, where $300 was withdrawn from an ATM, according to police. Petty then fled with the cash, police said.

The three victims were uninjured.

Petty has two prior felony convictions, one for the attempted sale of a controlled substance in the third degree from 2016, and attempted burglary in the third degree, from 2011.