Three men charged in videotaped beating
A Rhinebeck man who came to town to buy drugs was found semiconscious and bleeding from the face and head after he was chased by three men, beaten with a baseball bat and thrown over a porch railing, the Saugerties police chief said Friday.
The 32-year-old victim, Joseph Banks, told police and the Freeman he came to Saugerties on Wednesday to buy marijuana. When the deal apparently went bad, police said, he was chased by the three men and ran to the Mayfield Estates development and knocked on the door of one of the homes, which happened to have a video surveillance camera.
The resident of the home didn’t know Banks and didn’t let him in but called 911, Sinagra said. Banks said the man was “scared to death ... I felt so bad for him.”
Banks — who was not identified by police but came to the Freeman office in Kingston on Friday to tell his side of the story — said the Mayfield Estates resident may have saved his life.
“If it wasn’t for that man yelling out the window, they probably would have killed me,” he said.
The attack happened shortly after Banks knocked on the door and before police arrived, and the assailants fled before officers could get there.
Sinagra said the attack stemmed from an incident a short time earlier at a food stand on state Route 32 and that the 911 call came in at 5:11 p.m. Wednesday.
After reviewing video footage of the attack, police on Thursday arrested Vincent Neglia, 31, and his brother Russel Neglia, 22, both of 3691 state Route 32, Saugerties, and Travis Gonzalez, 22, of 48 Victor’s Lane, Saugerties. The Neglias’ parents own the food stand where the incident started, Sinagra said,
Russel Neglia and Gonzalez were charged with the felonies of robbery, gang assault and assault, and the misdemeanor of criminal possession of a weapon. Vincent Neglia was charged with the felonies of robbery, gang assault and assault.
Banks, who was flown by helicopter to the MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, suffered soft tissue damage, had his head split open and “was extremely lucky they didn’t kill him,” Sinagra said. Banks required 16 stitches and later was released, police said.
“I just fought. I fought as hard as I could,” Banks said Friday.
Banks said he had come to Saugerties to buy 7 grams of marijuana from the three defendants for $90 and that he had dealt with the men in the past. This time, however, he angered the defendants when he threatened to turn them in to police for an unrelated matter, Banks said.
The three defendants were released after posting $25,000 bail each, and the Saugerties Town Court issued an order of protection on behalf of Banks, police said.