Adventureland stabbing: Daniel Tomasky, of Shirley, sentenced to three years in prison for assault at Farmingdale amusement park

A Shirley man charged with second-degree assault and other crimes in connection with a July 2024 stabbing at Adventureland was sentenced to 3 years in prison by a Suffolk County judge on Tuesday.

An attorney for Daniel Tomasky, 44, said his client acted to protect his wife, son and himself after a brawl erupted at the Farmingdale amusement park.

Tomasky also pleaded guilty Tuesday to an unrelated charge of driving while ability impaired during his appearance before acting State Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft Jr. in Riverhead. Senft sentenced Tomasky to 1 year in prison for that charge, which he will serve concurrently with the stabbing sentence.

According to Suffolk County prosecutors, Tomasky stabbed James Burns, of Edgewater, Florida, in the abdomen with a folding knife at the end of a melee involving several people at Adventureland on July 7, 2024. At the time of the stabbing, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a news release, that while members of Burns’ family were involved in the fracas, Burns was not. 

Burns, a former friend of Tomasky's, was taken to a hospital in critical condition immediately after he was stabbed, authorities said. He could not be immediately reached Tuesday. 

Prosecutors allege Tomasky disposed of the knife in a sewer drain near his vehicle shortly before Suffolk police officers arrested him at the scene.

Tomasky pleaded guilty to second-degree assault on Sept. 24, according to court records. His attorney, Michael Brown, said that Tomasky stepped in after he saw his wife and son being assaulted by people associated with Burns.

"He didn’t start this," Brown said after Tomasky was sentenced. "He finished it, but he didn’t start it ... and at the end of the day, my client simply was defending his wife, his son, who were attacked."

Tomasky’s wife, Rachel Tomasky, called her husband "a hero" who came to her aid after she was struck in the head. "I left the scene of the crime with a concussion, in an ambulance," she said. "Nobody mentions that."

Brown said he was prepared to take the case to trial before prosecutors agreed to seek a three-year sentence for Tomasky. He had faced a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison if convicted. 

"It’s tough to put your fate in the hands of 12 people, and you hope they are fair, and you hope that they are impartial," Brown said, explaining the decision to plead guilty. "You have to weigh those risks and he opted to take that offer."

Rachel Tomasky said her husband and Burns were once close friends but had a severe falling out. The parties involved in the melee inadvertently ran into each other at Adventureland, she said.

"My husband does not deserve this," she said, "and neither does my family."

Several of Tomasky’s supporters attended the sentencing but were ordered to leave because of outbursts at a previous hearing.

"Anytime you have a case like this, emotions come into play," Brown said. "Everybody is human. At the end of the day, it is the judge’s courtroom."

New York State prison records show Tomasky has spent a total of about 7½ years in state prison on prior drug and weapons convictions, all dating back more than a decade. Brown has noted in the past that Burns has a lengthy criminal history, with 17 prior arrests, as well as felony convictions.

Rachel Tomasky and her sister, Amiee Dakin, of East Yaphank, told Newsday that Tomasky had stayed out of trouble for many years, focusing on his family and the plumbing business he runs with his wife.

"He employs three different people who will now, unfortunately, probably be out of work," Rachel Tomasky said.

They acknowledged that he erred when he drove through a stop sign on Sept. 18 while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, a violation that resulted in the driving while ability impaired charge and other traffic-related charges.

"He knows he made a mistake," Dakin said. "He’s heard plenty about it from us."