Alleged Schenectady bail jumper back in jail

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

A local man arrested in Schenectady in November on a high-level felony charge and thought to have fled the country was taken back into custody this week in Orange County, authorities said.

Dane Nguyen, 29, most recently of Middletown, was arrested Tuesday in Middletown, apparently without incident, according to papers filed in court.

Nguyen was originally arrested Nov. 25, accused of engaging in a sex act with an intoxicated person days earlier in Schenectady.

The accusation resulted in Nguyen, then of Rensselaer, being charged in Schenectady with first-degree criminal sex act, a felony that carries a sentence of as much as 25 years in prison. Nguyen was arraigned in Schenectady City Court and ordered held on $15,000 bail.

He arrived at the Schenectady County Jail the next day, Nov. 26, and posted his bail with a credit card. Prosecutor Jessica Lorusso of the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office said Nguyen was released to return to court Nov. 29. But Nguyen didn’t show up and a warrant was issued for his arrest, Lorusso said.

State police and the U.S. Marshals Service received information that Nguyen, a native of Vietnam, had made it out of the country and was in Hong Kong, or at least had passed through there, Lorusso said. Then, days ago, authorities got a tip Nguyen was back in Middletown.

Authorities tracked him down there Tuesday and took him into custody, records show. He arrived back at the Schenectady County Jail on Wednesday.

Now, in addition to the original felony, Nguyen faces a second felony charge of second-degree bail jumping. He is being held without bail, officials said.

Schenectady County Sheriff Dominic Dagostino said the jail has accepted credit cards as a form of payment for about a year, using an outside company. There is no cost to the county.

Dagostino, who did not have direct knowledge of Nguyen’s case, said he has not heard of problems with the system. It is generally used for higher bail amounts, with someone other than the offender posting it.