Judge Sets $2M Bond For Suspect in Home Invasion Case

Photo/SCDA Spota
Jeffrey Rice

A state Supreme Court justice has set a $2 million bond for the Huntington Station man accused of breaking into a Fox Hunt Lane home in Cold Spring Harbor last Thanksgiving and beating an 85-year-old woman, according to authorities.

Jeffrey Rice, 45, pleaded not guilty to an eight-count indictment in Riverhead on Tuesday, according to Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota.

State Supreme Court Justice William Condon also set cash bail at $1 million, Spota said.

Rice is charged with five counts of burglary, one count of second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child.

On Nov. 24, 2016, Rice allegedly entered the Cold Spring Harbor home through an unlocked door, got a kitchen knife and confronted a young girl and her elderly aunt on the second floor. Rice then punched the 85-year old woman “in the face numerous times with a closed fist causing extreme swelling and bruising,” Spota said in a news release.

The homeowner, armed with a baseball bat, disarmed and subdued Rice.

“The assault charge in the indictment specifically addresses Rice’s violent attack on the senior citizen charging him with intent to cause physical injury to her, a person 65 years or older,” Spota said, adding that second-degree assault is a class “D” felony punishable by a maximum sentence of seven years. The top count in the indictment, first-degree burglary, is punishable by a maximum of 25 years imprisonment.

Rice is a prior violent felon who served four years in prison for slashing a security guard who attempted to stop him from shoplifting five video games from a Miller Place supermarket in 2003.

-WROBLEWSKI