Long Island man charged in stabbing of ex-girlfriend’s son, police say
Robert Schreiber is accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s 22-year-old son seven times after entering a Patchogue home through a window, a case that also put relatives and a child at risk.
Seven stab wounds to the head, neck and shoulder turned a breakup in Patchogue into a family-safety emergency. Suffolk County prosecutors say Robert Schreiber, 42, of Patchogue, entered his ex-girlfriend’s home through an unlocked window around 8 a.m. on April 18 and attacked her 22-year-old son inside the house.
The victim’s family members stepped in and called 911, giving him a chance to escape down the stairs. He was taken by ambulance to NYU Langone Hospital, where doctors used staples to close his wounds. Schreiber was arrested at the scene and, prosecutors said, was found with the knife used in the assault.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the indictment on May 1, saying Schreiber faced charges including attempted murder in the second degree, burglary in the first degree, attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment in the second degree. The case has been assigned to Assistant District Attorney Johanna Poremba of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, a signal that prosecutors see the incident as more than a single act of street violence.
Schreiber was arraigned on April 30 before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins, who set bail at $100,000 cash, $1 million bond or $1 million partially secured bond. He is due back in court on May 28 and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
The allegations follow an apparent relationship breakup on April 17, when Schreiber’s long-term girlfriend ended the relationship and locked him out of the home. Prosecutors say the next morning he got inside anyway, then went straight to the son’s bedroom. In a village of 12,408 people, according to the 2020 census, the case lands as a stark reminder of how quickly a domestic dispute can spill beyond two adults and endanger children, relatives and anyone in the home when a relationship turns violent.
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