Westchester Man Gets Nearly 20 Years For Assaulting FBI Agent

YONKERS, NY — A New Rochelle man will go to federal prison for actions senior law enforcement called among the most "depraved and reckless acts" ever.

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that New Rochelle resident Darren Smith was sentenced on Tuesday to 230 months in prison for assaulting an FBI Task Force Officer and related offenses. Smith was previously convicted after a jury trial on September 12, 2022, of assaulting a federal officer, discharging a firearm in relation to his assault of a federal officer, and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

"This Office stands shoulder to shoulder with our partners in law enforcement when they come under attack," Williams said. "We will stop at nothing to ensure that those who seek to harm them face justice."

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According to court documents, on September 25, 2020, after Yonkers police officers initiated a stop of the car Smith was driving, he sped away and led law enforcement officers on a car chase and then foot pursuit through the crowded streets of downtown Yonkers, holding a loaded handgun and refusing multiple orders to stop and put down the gun.

An FBI officer from the FBI’s Westchester-based Safe Streets Task Force was among the law enforcement officers who responded and pursued Smith. Eventually, the FBI Task Force Officer and members of the YPD brought Smith to the ground. While they attempted to restrain him, he still refused to drop the gun, and fired five shots into the crowded Getty Square area of Yonkers near members of law enforcement and bystanders, including a woman pushing a stroller with a baby. Smith then attempted to turn the gun back towards members of law enforcement, including the FBI officer, who were on top of him and trying to restrain him.

The Yonkers Police Commissioner at the time, John J. Mueller, said it was one of the most depraved and reckless acts he had ever witnessed in his 28 years in law enforcement.

In addition to the prison sentence, 27-year-old Smith was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Williams praised the investigative work of the FBI’s Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force and the Yonkers Police Department.