Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 35-year-old Robert M. Smith of Buffalo was sentenced this morning before State Supreme Court Justice Debra Givens to 3 ½ years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. He was sentenced today as a second felony offender.
On December 12, 2021, at approximately 4:38 a.m., a couple saw the defendant banging his hands on their truck, which was parked outside of their hotel room on Dingens Street in the Town of Cheektowaga. When he was confronted by the victims, the defendant smashed several windows in an attempt to enter their hotel room. The victims, who did not know the defendant, blocked the doorway as the defendant attempted to stab them with a large piece of broken glass. The victims were eventually able to lock the hotel room door and barricade themselves in the bathroom as the defendant attempted to gain entry while making threats. The victims were not injured during the incident.
The defendant charged toward a responding Cheektowaga Police officer who attempted to de-escalate the situation. The defendant was subsequently tased by police then placed under arrest. He was taken by ambulance to ECMC to be treated for various cuts to his body that he sustained from breaking the hotel windows.
Smith pleaded guilty to one count of Attempted Burglary in the Second Degree (Class “D” felony) on February 22, 2023.
DA Flynn commends the Cheektowaga Police Department and the Amherst Police Department for their work in these investigations.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Brown of the Felony Trials Bureau.