Suspect indicted in Niskayuna knife attack

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

Just after midnight Aug. 26, a 9-year-old girl heard a commotion. She got up and saw a man in the house. Her mother was not there.

The girl grabbed him by the arm and asked him where her mother was.

The mother was outside their Baker Avenue home, the man responded. He then fled, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney recounted on Friday.

That man, identified by authorities as Adam P. Lewis, 48, of Saratoga Springs, was indicted Friday in Schenectady County Court on one count each of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree burglary.

Lewis is accused of stabbing the child’s mother twice early that morning as he broke in through a window.

The woman and Lewis once dated and had a child together. Lewis also had a lengthy history of domestic violence against the woman. The indictment alleges a series of incidents dating back to February, including harassment and attempted break-ins.

Lewis broke in carrying a knife, Carney said. He also brought with him a can of gasoline and matches. The open can was found on the home’s back steps; the matches were found on Lewis after his arrest.

Inside the home were six children, three of them the woman’s own and three she was babysitting. None of them were injured.

The incident began as Lewis began banging on the front door, Carney said.

The woman first grabbed the phone, called 911 and hid in a closet. But as she realized that he was getting inside, she went to confront him.

Lewis stabbed her once in the side and once in the back, Carney said.

The woman eventually made her way to the backyard, where paramedics and police found her. Lewis fled but turned himself in a short time later.

The woman, Carney said, is recovering. She suffered a punctured lung and has some lingering injuries. “Generally, she is doing well,” he said.

Lewis has been in the Schenectady County Jail since his arrest. His attorney is listed as Joseph Litz.

Carney noted the location of the attack, in Niskayuna, and the alleged attacker’s occupation as a lab technician.

“This is an example of the truth about domestic violence,” Carney said. “It cuts across all sectors of society.”

Lewis also faces three counts of endangering, five counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief, two counts of aggravated criminal contempt, three counts of second-degree aggravated harassment and one count of second-degree attempted burglary.