A Springs man was arrested by East Hampton Town Police this weekend after police said he slashed an acquaintance with a knife during a domestic dispute.
James E. Wilkins Jr., 45, recently of Springs, was arrested on Friday night and faces multiple charges, including two felonies: assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon.
Police said that during a dispute with an acquaintance, Wilkins pulled out a knife, wounding the acquaintance’s scalp and left hand, causing deep lacerations and “disfigurement.”
The dispute occurred at a Springs residence, in front of two young children, police said, triggering two additional misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child.
By the time police arrived, Wilkins had fled, but he was picked up nearby.
The victim was rushed to the new Stony Brook East Hampton emergency medical facility for treatment, police said. It appears the injuries, though serious, were not life-threatening.
Wilkins has been convicted of eight felonies previously in Virginia, where he is originally from. Those convictions include involuntary manslaughter, for which Wilkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison, though he only served two, and grand larceny, East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky said during Wilkins’s arraignment on Sunday morning.
Because of those prior felony convictions, Tekulsky told Melissa Aguanno, who represented Wilkins for the arraignment, that he had no choice but to order Wilkins remanded to the Suffolk County Jail without bail.
District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office now has until Thursday to either obtain an indictment against Wilkins or release him from custody, Tekulsky said.
