Dan Hust | Democrat THIS SUBARU FORESTER – being towed by Robbie Green of Robert Green Chevrolet in Monticello – was badly damaged after being rammed by a Cavalier on Friday. According to the police, a recreational therapist at the Center for Discovery was inside the vehicle with her seven-month-old child when the father, Dean Kelly Davis, surprised them along Benmosche Road in Harris. Police believe an ongoing domestic dispute was at the heart of the scenario, which played out right in front of a locked-down Center for Discover.

Domestic dispute plays out in Harris

By Dan Hust
HARRIS — For nearly five tense hours Friday morning, police combed the woods near a locked-down Center for Discovery in Harris.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police and Monticello Police Department assisted the Center’s security staff in searching for a man alleged to have tried to run down a Center employee that morning.
According to Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty, Dean Kelly Davis, 40, of Salisbury Mills, was waiting for his girlfriend along Benmosche Road as she headed to her recreational therapist job at the Center. (Police declined to release her name.)
She passed him around 7:45 Friday morning, whereupon he allegedly rammed her car, a 2005 Subaru Forester owned by her father, with his, a 2003 Chevy Cavalier registered in her name.
The couple’s seven-month-old child was inside her car as it was spun and tossed down Kinnebrook Road, shattering the back windshield and blowing out three tires.
With the Subaru all but disabled, the woman locked her child inside and ran down Kinnebrook Road to the Center’s entrance to summon help.
According to Chaboty, Davis chased after her in the Cavalier, careening through the Center’s parking lot and getting caught up on a stone wall surrounded by pine trees.
The therapist was immediately taken to security, while Davis allegedly ran into the woods on the other side of the street.
Kinnebrook Road was partially closed and the Center locked down while K-9 units and a State Police helicopter tried to flush out the accused. Officers, including Sheriff Michael Schiff, went door to door in the surrounding neighborhood, asking residents to stay alert.
Around 12:30 p.m., said Chaboty, brand new Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Rogers thought to check some semi trailers sitting off Benmosche Road, where he found Davis inside one.
Though feared to have been armed, Davis did not have a weapon on him and was peacefully taken into custody. However, said Chaboty, a bayonet, a machete and three broadhead arrows with a bow were found in the back seat of the Cavalier.
The woman and her baby – who were immediately transported to the Sheriff’ Office in Monticello – were uninjured, and the Center itself only suffered minor property damage, reopening later that day.
As of yesterday, Chaboty did not have a motive other than to say that it was an ongoing domestic dispute that had resulted in an order of protection against Davis, filed in Ellenville where the woman lives.
Davis was charged with two counts of felony reckless endangerment in the first degree, two counts of felony criminal mischief, felony criminal contempt of court in the second degree, misdemeanor child welfare endangerment, misdemeanor reckless driving, and traffic violations for leaving the scene of a property damage and motor vehicle accident.
He’s currently in Sullivan County Jail without bail, awaiting further court action.