PELHAM: Home Invader Gets Lengthy Prison Term For Home Invasion

PELHAM MANOR (WESTCHESTER COUNTY) NY: On May 6, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced that Bronx resident Rick Scocozza was sentenced to state prison for a 2019 home invasion in Pelham Manor.

Rick Scocozza pled guilty last August 10 to Attempted Burglary in the Second Degree, a Class C Felony. Scocozza, a persistent violent felony offender, faces a sentence ranging from a minimum of 12 years to life to a maximum of 25 years to life in state prison.

On August 22, 2019, Scocozza entered a family’s Jackson Avenue home in Pelham Manor through the garage and held two women of the household at gun point while demanding they give him money.

When Scocozza ordered the victims to take him to a different area of the home to obtain more items, a third member of the household, who was hiding, attacked the defendant, causing Scocozza to drop the gun.

One victim picked up the gun, ran out of the house, threw it into a nearby bush and called the police as Scocozza was held down.

Pelham Manor Police arrested Scocozza and recovered the gun, which they discovered was a BB gun.

Police also recovered a backpack, which Scocozza wore during the incident, filled with duct tape, zip ties, and a pillowcase. Scocozza, who was also wearing camouflaged face paint, had parked his car near the house where police found his face paint inside, along with a receipt for it.

Scocozza, 58, a persistent violent felony offender, was sentenced on May 5, 2022, to 14 years to life in state prison.

The case was before Judge Barry Warhit in Westchester County Court, and was prosecuted by Acting Bureau Chief Jonathan Strongin.