Authorities who arrested a New York man caught on camera stabbing a Ring doorbell camera say the incident was the result of a years-long feud between him and the neighbor whose home he targeted.
The disturbing video caught 53-year-old Patrick Richiusa knifing the lens of a Ring camera at his neighbor’s home in the Central Islip area of Long Island.
“Yes, basically I did,” Richiusa told WABC. “I screwed up. I admit it. I was wrong.”
Richiusa said his actions resulted from pent-up frustration with his neighbor, who he alleges has been disruptive for some time.
“My dog is terrified from the banging and the loud music, and I tried contacting the landlord. I tried everything I could,” he said. “One night I just couldn’t take it no more.”
Alexandria Princivil, the neighbor whose Ring camera was destroyed, disputed Richiusa’s account, saying that their feud started with a petty fight over an open dumpster. Then, their quarrels began to escalate.
“He’s not genuine at all,” Princivil told the outlet. “He’s called me the ‘C-word,’ the ‘B-word,’ a ‘piece of trash.’ Yes, even the ‘N-word.'”
Over time, Princivil said Richiusa’s behavior only worsened until it finally led to the incident in which he damaged her property.
“This man, with a machete … just going after the Ring doorbell,” Princivil said of the crime.
Richiusa, who said he’s a former New York City firefighter with post-traumatic stress disorder from 9/11, admitted that he “snapped” when he went after Princivil’s camera.
“Yeah, I snapped. I guess I got mad, but at least I didn’t hurt anybody,” he said.
He now faces a criminal mischief charge, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail if he’s convicted.
Investigators are now looking into whether he is responsible for similar crimes in the community.
Princivil said he wants him removed from the neighborhood.
“He has to be removed. He has to,” she said.
