A 29-year-old man waiting to board a ride at the Dutchess County Fair was attacked by three men around 8:47 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, leaving him bleeding from the face with significant swelling around his left eye, according to police. The attack happened on the fair midway in Rhinebeck, and all three suspects now face felony gang assault charges along with counts of child endangerment.
State Police troopers responded to a report of a fight in progress on the fairgrounds and found the victim suffering from serious physical injuries, according to Daily Voice. Troopers say the victim was assaulted by three men while he was simply waiting in line for the ride. He was taken to Kingston Health Alliance Hospital for treatment.
The three men accused in the attack have been identified as 36-year-old Dennis J. Appollonia of Kingston, 31-year-old Lloyd D. Depew of Kingston, and 32-year-old Ryan A. Depew of Catskill. Per police, all three were charged with second-degree gang assault, a felony, along with three counts each of endangering the welfare of a child. State Police have not provided further details about the circumstances behind the child endangerment charges.
Gang Assault Charge Carries Steep Penalties
Under New York Penal Law ยง 120.06, gang assault in the second degree is a Class C violent felony, a charge that carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison, according to the Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo. The offense is referred to as gang assault in the second degree.
The separate child endangerment charges were also filed in the case, though authorities have not disclosed who the children involved were or how they were exposed to the attack.
Arrests Came in Waves Over Two Days
Appollonia was arrested first, on Aug. 30, and was arraigned in Rhinebeck Town Court. He was remanded to the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center after being held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail, $10,000 bond, or a $15,000 partially secured bond. Ryan Depew and Lloyd Depew were arrested a day later, on Aug. 31, and were arraigned separately in Hyde Park Town Court, where both were released under probation supervision.
The formal charge against Appollonia was listed on the Dutchess County District Attorney's public Crimewatch portal, according to the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office. All three men are scheduled to appear again in Rhinebeck Town Court on Sept. 17. The incident carries case number NY2601075042 in official law enforcement records.
Fair Drew Hundreds of Thousands to Rhinebeck
The attack took place during the 180th annual Dutchess County Fair, a six-day event that ran Aug. 25 through Aug. 30 at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, according to Dutchess Tourism. Billed as the second-largest agricultural county fair in New York State, the event typically draws an average of nearly 300,000 visitors over its annual six-day run, a scale that requires heavy coordination between local emergency services and State Police. The midway rides were the setting of the attack. According to a 2011 Dutchess County Government departmental annual summary, county emergency services received over 162,000 phone calls for assistance and dispatched 127,014 calls for service.
The victim was taken to Kingston Health Alliance Hospital for treatment, while the supplied reports do not provide further details about hospital-routing patterns. It was not the fairgrounds' only emergency of the week: off-duty firefighters and fair medical staff resuscitated an unresponsive person inside Barn 30 on Aug. 28, the day before the midway attack.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call State Police at 845-677-7300. The gang assault statute has seen active use in Dutchess County recently, though this account does not compare the case with other prosecutions.
