Guilty plea in attack on officer
21-year-old expected to serve 4-year term
A 21-year-old man who threw a brick at an Albany police officer during a May 30 melee after a Black Lives Matter demonstration, leaving the officer with a concussion, pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony assault.
James Vail, who said he had been living in a city mission before his arrest, is expected to serve four years in state prison, following his plea to seconddegree assault before acting Supreme Court Justice Roger
Mcdonough.
Vail, who was joined by his attorney, James Knox, initially paused and said he threw a rock when the judge asked him to describe his actions outside city police department’s South Station on Arch
Street about 8 p.m. He then said he threw the brick at the officer. The incident was part of a clash between protesters and police that unfolded after a day of peaceful protest in Albany prompted by police brutality, including the May 25 death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck.
Albany County prosecutors have said Vail “participated in a riot” and damaged a marked police vehicle and allegedly threw a brick at an Albany police officer, striking him in the head.
The officer suffered the concussion, in addition to shoulder pain and a bulging disc in his neck that required hospital treatment, Albany County prosecutors said.
The officer, who was present in court, said he was OK with the resolution, the judge noted.
Vail was scheduled for pre-trial hearing Tuesday but he and his attorney reached the plea deal with prosecutors. Sentencing was set for Jan. 22.