White Plains, NY - The Westchester County District Attorney's office has announced that Mark Lugg, 37, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to determinate term of 7 1/2 years in prison on his October 2012 conviction after a jury trial, relating to the slashing of Jermaine Cooper in the face with a box cutter.

Lugg was convicted of one count of Assault, one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon, and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

On November 6, 2011, at approximately 4:00 P.M., the defendant arrived in front of the New Rochelle Police Department located at 475 North Avenue in New Rochelle, for an exchange of court ordered visitation of his three year old child.

During the exchange, the defendant and the mother of his child engaged in a verbal argument about appropriate clothing for the child and child support. The victim, the mother’s current boyfriend, interceded and after more heated words were exchanged, the victim punched the defendant in the face.

In response, the defendant reached into his pocket, removed a box cutter, and slashed the victim on the left side of his face with the box cutter, requiring medical treatment at a hospital, including approximately fifty sutures. The victim received a permanent visible scar to his face and continued and protracted numbness and pain to the afflicted area.

The defendant and the mother of the child, who also witnessed the slashing, both entered the New Rochelle Police Department.  While walking to the front door of the police department, the defendant threw the handle of the box cutter onto the street and threw the blade into the garbage can.

Members of the New Rochelle Police Department responded to the scene, observed the victim profusely bleeding from his face, called for an ambulance for the victim, and recovered the box cutter handle and blade from the street and garbage.

The defendant was arrested.

Assistant District Attorney Christine Cervasio, of the Domestic Violence Bureau, prosecuted the case.

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