Illegal immigrant arrested after allegedly chasing down US attorney with knife in Albany

An illegal immigrant in New York has been arrested for allegedly threatening a U.S. attorney with a knife.

The incident occurred Tuesday in the state capital of Albany when Saul Morales-Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, allegedly approached John A. Sarcone III, a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, with a knife at a Hilton hotel.

Morales-Garcia allegedly pulled out the knife and lunged toward the federal prosecutor, the Times Union newspaper reports. Sarcone retreated into the hotel.

Security camera footage reviewed by police showed Morales-Garcia wielding a knife and appearing to go after Sarcone as he ran toward the Hilton's lobby. Morales-Garcia was previously deported, then apparently reentered the U.S. recently without authorization.

Sarcone told the news outlet that he had left his office shortly before the incident and was walking by the hotel, smoking a cigar, when he noticed Morales-Garcia.

“I got my eye on him, then I turn back and I’m in front of the Hilton, and I’m just standing there, and I’m looking at him … and he then starts yelling at me in his language that I don’t understand,” Sarcone said. “I’m smoking a cigar. I don’t say anything to him … and then he pulls the knife. He’s lunging towards me, and I’m still standing there with the cigar.”

He said he kept a safe distance from Morales-Garcia and retreated into the hotel lobby, then called Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple.

Sarcone said he went back outside the hotel to watch the man as police were on their way.

“I didn’t want him to get away, and I yelled out at him,” he continued. “He turns around, and he starts yelling again … and then he pulls the knife out, and then there’s this (gesture) across his throat thing, like he’s going to slit my throat, and then comes at me again, and I ran back towards the hotel, and then he stopped, and then turned around.”

Deputies arrived at that moment and took the man into custody without incident, Sarcone said. According to police, Morales-Garcia had a knife in his possession that they seized it as evidence. Sarcone was not injured. 

“I’m a resident of the city of Albany, and I can’t … I don’t feel safe to go out for a walk and have a cigar right near the state Capitol,” Sarcone said.

Morales-Garcia told police that he didn't know that Sarcone is the U.S. attorney, unnamed law enforcement sources told the Times Union. He has been charged with attempted murder, felony weapons possession, and a misdemeanor count of menacing.

City Court Judge John Reilly signed a protection order forbidding Morales-Garcia from having contact with Sarcone.

A deputy public defender, Vincenzo Sofia, told Reilly that he didn't believe the evidence justified an attempted murder charge and requested it be dismissed, with Morales-Garcia released under probationary supervision.

“Defense attorneys are going to (be a) defense attorney,” District Attorney Lee Kindlon said when asked about Sofia's request.

Prosecutors argued that Morales-Garcia is a flight risk, as he has criminal charges pending in Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and federal court, including an active warrant seeking his arrest in Georgia.

Morales-Garcia pleaded not guilty and was sent to Albany County jail without bail. A grand jury hearing is scheduled for Friday and a hearing in city court is scheduled for Monday.

New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said in a statement on Wednesday, "In Kathy Hochul's New York, nobody is safe, not even President Trump's U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of NY John A. Sarcone III, who was 'confronted and chased' by an illegal alien armed with a knife in Albany last night, the Times Union reported.

"Three separate times, Hochul signed executive orders to protect violent illegal aliens from deportation. Kathy Hochul puts illegals first and New Yorkers last. We desperately need a governor who puts New Yorkers first and restores law and order to our streets."