MOUNT VERNON MAN IS SENTENCED TO A TERM OF UP TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR THE ABDUCTION AND ATTEMPTED STRANGULATION OF A 16 YEAR OLD RUNWAY FROM CONNECTICUT

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that 24 year-old Dion McIntosh, of Mount Vernon, New York, has been sentenced to a term of up to life imprisonment for the kidnaping and attempted murder of a 16 year-old girl who ran away from her home in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

McIntosh was convicted on May 22, 2002, of Kidnaping in the 1st degree, Attempted Murder in the 1st degree, Attempted Assault in the 2nd degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd degree in connection with the abduction of Cindy Mora in May, 2001.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus described the defendant’s actions as "vile and reprehensible" before sentencing McIntosh to serve 41 and a third years to life imprisonment.

The series of crimes of which McIntosh was convicted occurred near Pelham Manor on the border of Bronx and Westchester Counties on May 20, 2001.

Sergeant William Grosskopf of the Pelham Manor Police Department was drawn to a Chevy Blazer that the defendant was driving because the vehicle’s alarm had been triggered, the motor was running and its lights were flashing. The vehicle was parked in a lot at 4301 Boston Road. McIntosh got out of the car as the officer approached and fired at the officer’s radio patrol car before fleeing into the nearby Eastchester Bay Creek. He was taken into custody a short time later.

Investigators, meanwhile, discovered the 16 year-old runaway, Cindy Mora in the defendant’s vehicle with a ligature still around her neck. McIntosh was in the process of strangling Mora when Sergeant Grosskopf arrived at the scene. McIntosh, who fired several shots at the sergeant but missed, was charged with the attempted murder of a police officer but was acquitted. The jury instead found McIntosh guilty of attempted assault in connection with gunshots aimed at Sergeant Grosskopf.

McIntosh was convicted of Attempted Murder in the 1st degree in connection with the brutal assault against his 16 year-old victim. He was found guilty under the theory that the attempted strangulation was actually an attempt to kill a witness to another crime. The jury heard testimony that the girl had been raped at gunpoint allegedly by McIntosh in Connecticut a day earlier on May 19, 2001, before she was transported to the Bronx against her will.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel McCarthy, Chief Trial Counsel and Assistant District Attorney Seanan Reidy.