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A prominent local businessman was arrested and charged with felony assault Tuesday morning in connection with serious injuries suffered by a female acquaintance on Monday afternoon.
Robert A. Elmy, 63, who owns a marina in Whitehall, was charged with second-degree assault. He is accused of assaulting a woman in her residence and causing a serious head injury that forced doctors to put her in a medically induced coma.
The identity of the victim is not being released but she is believed to be intimately acquainted with Elmy.
Whitehall Police Chief Matt Dickinson said the department received a phone call from the Glens Falls Police Department around 2:12 p.m. on Monday notifying them that a female patient had been admitted to the Glens Falls Hospital with “multi-system trauma.”
Dickinson said Elmy brought the woman to the hospital.
Her injuries forced her to be flown to Albany Medical Center for advanced treatment.
Dickinson said Tuesday morning the victim is in stable condition but remains in an induced coma.
She is expected to survive, but a timetable for her recovery has not yet been determined and it’s unclear if she’ll suffer from any long-term effects.
It’s believed the victim had a prior head injury that is making it difficult to determine how she may recover.
Glens Falls Police interviewed the victim who told them she was assaulted by Elmy at her residence in Whitehall.
Elmy was later interviewed by the New York State Police in Queensbury who transported him to the Whitehall Police Department where he was arrested and processed.
He was charged with second degree assault, a class D felony.
It’s unknown if he used a weapon in the attack.
Elmy was sent to Washington County Jail for lack of $50,000 bail or $100,000 bond.
The motive for the attack was unknown Tuesday afternoon but police continue to look into the matter.
“We are still right in the middle of this investigation. Needless to say, it’s ongoing,” Dickinson said.
The Whitehall Police Department and the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Foresnic Investigation Units are investigating the matter.
Elmy is the owner of Champlain Harbor Marina and RV Park on lower Main Street.
He has operated the marina for several years and resides in Florida during the winter months.
The marina has fallen on hard financial hard times over the past several years due to a tough economy, high gas prices and perceived competition from the mooring wall behind the Canal Corp Visitor’s Center.
Those problems have been compounded by two separate floods in the past six months.
Although the marina is currently for sale, Elmy recently said he planned to reopen next spring. In the past, Elmy and his wife Patricia have lived in Florida during the winter months.
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