Orange County, NY – A Harriman man has been sentenced to more than a decade in jail for shooting a Kiryas Joel teen in a robbery gone wrong this past fall.
As previously reported on TOT News, 26 year old Matthew Bauman was desperate for money to buy drugs on the night of November 24, deliberately choosing the Quick Shop kosher convenience store as his target.
Bauman demanded money from 18 year old Kiryas Joel resident Aron Weiss, shooting the teen in the shoulder when he turned to flee.
Bauman, who admitted to stealing the gun from his father, pled guilty to attempted first degree robbery last month and was sentenced today by Judge Nicholas De Rosa, as reported by the Times Herald Record.
“You turned yourself into a drug zombie,” said De Rosa. “Anything, anytime, anywhere, just to get drugs.”
Assistant District Attorney James Rosenwasser noted that the incident proved a direct link between heroin use and violent crime in Orange County.
“He went out either to find the drug or to find money to get the drug,” said Rosenwasser, noting that Bauman pulled his gun on the very first person he saw that night.
Bauman accepted a plea deal that will put him in jail for 11 years, followed by five years of supervised parole.
De Rosa told Bauman, who apologized for his actions, that he will hopefully have many years ahead of him when he is released.
“Maybe you can start your life all over again,” said De Rosa.
