Victim of St. Johnsville assault faces charge of forcible touching

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

A man who police say was beaten into unconsciousness last month by three assailants was himself charged on Friday with misdemeanor forcible touching.

Three men were charged with felony assault in the beating inflicted on Alfred L. Dygert, 32, of 18A Lion Ave., St. Johnsonville.

On Friday, the St. Johnsville Police Department said Dygert was arrested.

Dygert was the victim of a Sept. 26 incident in which three men entered his residence and struck him repeatedly, police reported at the time.

Lawrence A. Holloway, 26, of 71 W. Main St.; Nicholas A. Bennett, 24, of 12 Hough St.; and Carl O’Brien, 35, of 44 Church St., Richfield Springs, were charged with first-degree gang assault and first-degree burglary after an investigation, according to police.

Police last month said “an incident” took place at the Central Hotel bar at 12 E. Main St. in the village. That incident, police said, led Holloway, Bennett and O’Brien to attack Dygert, leaving him with wounds that required more than 30 surgical staples and stitches to close, along with a fractured cheek bone and broken nose.

St. Johnsville Police Chief William Stack could not be reached for more information on Friday.

But Montgomery County District Attorney James “Jed” Conboy said that the actions that led to Dygert’s arrest also prompted the three men to assault him.

Conboy declined to detail what Dygert allegedly did to be charged with forcible touching.

According to the state’s penal code, forcible touching is when somebody “forcibly touches the sexual or other intimate parts of another person for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person; or for the purpose of gratifying the actor’s sexual desire.”

“Touching” can include squeezing, grabbing or pinching, according to the law.

After his arrest, Dygert was processed and issued an appearance ticket, according to a news release from the St. Johnsville Police Department.