Arrest in NY Church Attack
Pastor Dale Morgan
Arrest in NY Church Attack*
Friday May 18, 2007 7:16 PM
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (AP) - A surveillance video of a woman in a church pew
warding off an attacker with a pen led to the arrest of a 44-year-old
man, police said Friday.
The unidentified 58-year-old woman was praying early Wednesday at the
chapel of St. Joseph's Church when she fought off the attacker by
stabbing him in the neck with a pen she was using to write in her journal.
The man ran off. The attack was recorded by the church's security cameras.
John Michael Petry was arrested Thursday evening after an off-duty
firefighter spotted him riding a bike, recognized him from news coverage
of the incident and called police, police Lt. Paul Rickard said.
The tip from the firefighter, Michael Benedetto, was one of many police
received after the video was broadcast.
Petry faces felony charges of attempted rape and sex abuse and
misdemeanor charges of obstruction of governmental administration and
resisting arrest. He was in jail Friday in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Petry is a former psychiatric patient who has been homeless off and on
over the years and has an arrest record dating to 1981, police said.
Middletown is 59 miles north of New York City.