Officer's throat slashed; 19-year-old suspect charged
By JIM KINNEY and TED REINERT, The Saratogian
09/05/2007
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Police officers escort Seth M. Dawson to city court Wednesday night for his arraignment on charges stemming from a slashing attack on Saratoga Springs Police Officer Adam Baker. (ED BURKE photo)


Police officers escort Seth M. Dawson to city court Wednesday night for his arraignment on charges stemming from a slashing attack on Saratoga Springs Police Officer Adam Baker. (ED BURKE photo)
SARATOGA SPRINGS - A city police officer underwent emergency surgery at Albany Medical Center Wednesday night after his throat was slashed by a mentally troubled 19-year-old, police said.
Officer Adam Baker, 30, was saved from bleeding to death by veteran officer John Carey, who put pressure on Baker's throat to stop the bleeding, police said.
Albany MedFlight medics temporarily sewed Baker's wound in the helicopter en route to the hospital.
"We're hoping for the best," said Police Chief Ed Moore, who spoke with Baker before the officer was taken into the helicopter. "Everything that I saw at the scene would indicate a good outcome."
The alleged assailant is Seth M. Dawson of County Route 64 in the Washington County community of Shushan, about 25 miles east of Saratoga Springs. He had previously been accused of assaulting a police officer, and had run away Wednesday from Four Winds-Saratoga, a private mental health hospital on Crescent Avenue in Saratoga Springs.
He was in civilian clothes when he was arrested. At the arraignment, he was in a white, suicide-proof jumpsuit and slip-on booties. He was cuffed at the hands and chained at the feet. He appeared lucid but nonchalant. He slouched over the table to read the criminal complaint against him. It charged him with aggravated assault on a police officer, a crime that could put him in state prison for up to 25 years.
Dawson answered "yeah" or "no" to the questions posed by City Court Judge Douglas Mills. He didn't stand up straight and looked at Mills only when Mills spoke to him.
He was held at Saratoga County Jail overnight without bail and is set to appear in City Court again today for a second arraignment, this time with a defense attorney present.
Wednesday night Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III appeared in court himself, a rarity. Arraignments are usually handled by an assistant D.A.
Murphy said he'd spoken with Sheriff James D. Bowen and Four Winds CEO and clinical director Robert M. Greenbaum about getting Dawson a psychi
atric evaluation, which Mills intends to order today. Four Winds did not return calls for comment.
Murphy has subpoenaed Dawson's medical records. But he was quick to point out that Dawson, from what Murphy understands of his mental state, is mentally competent to participate in his own defense.
In 2006, Dawson was accused of assaulting a police officer in Washington County, and was allowed to plead down to a lesser charge, Murphy said in court.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Dawson's father, Richard, said he hadn't talked to his son in nearly a year, although they live in the same town. He hadn't heard of the slashing.
"He lives with his mother," Richard Dawson said. "I just can't handle him here. You try and correct him and he just runs back to her. This is from growing up without consequences."
Murphy said it was Dawson's mother who brought him to Four Winds shortly before 3 p.m. He had an appointment for some sort of evaluation.
But once at the hospital, Dawson bolted.
"I don't think he ever made it in the building," Murphy said.
Saratoga Springs Police Chief Ed Moore said the hospital got a mental health pickup order for Dawson through Saratoga County's Mental Health Department. Baker spotted Dawson alone with his hands in his pockets at the corner of Jefferson Street and East Broadway, near Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, about a mile from the hospital.
Two other officers, John Carey and John Kehoe, arrived at the scene as backup.
Police said Dawson pulled out a blade and slashed Baker across the throat, leaving a five-inch-long wound from just below Baker's left jaw to his Adam's apple.
Carey quickly went to assist Baker, and Kehoe immediately took control of Dawson, police said.
Later, four police officers brought Dawson into the station, one holding each of his limbs.
Police closed off a portion of Jefferson Street after the incident to conduct a total crime scene reconstruction. State troopers from the forensic identification unit were there until 7 p.m.
Police recovered the blade.
"We have many witnesses," said Murphy. That includes a 13-year-old girl who had just gotten off the school bus on the first day of school.
Near the scene, Rebecca Hilliker, who has lived in the neighborhood more than a decade, said, "I'm very concerned that someone got this close to my house with a razor."
"I was just coming home," said her husband Jerry Hilliker. "I was right behind the fire truck."
Officer Baker was born in Glens Falls, but grew up and lived in and around Saratoga Springs, Moore said. Before becoming a police officer, he worked as an air conditioning and heating contractor. He was hired by the police department in July 2006, graduated from the police academy in December, and spent at least three months patrolling with a senior officer.
Baker is the son-in-law of Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Frank Dudla.
The entire family was at Albany Med Wednesday night, Moore said. Assistant Chief Christopher Cole and Lt. Jack King spent the afternoon there until Baker got out of surgery.
Public Safety Commissioner Ron Kim said he kept contact by phone and was on his way to the hospital following a meeting in City Hall.
About an hour later, as Dawson was being led from Saratoga Springs Court following his arraignment, media reporters asked why he hurt the officer.
"I was scared he was going to hurt me," Dawson said softly.