Opinion
October 7, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Franklin Weissberg, J.).
After a near collision of two automobiles, defendant and his accomplice pounded on the complainant's car and demanded money from the complainant. The complainant drove off, but defendant and his accomplice soon caught up with complainant at a stop light. While the demand for money was pursued by the accomplice, defendant smashed the window of the complainant's car with a tire iron, and the complainant was relieved of his watch. After further demand and physical assault by the accomplice, the complainant turned over his cash.
Contrary to defendant's claim on appeal, his guilt of robbery in the first degree was established by evidence showing that he "[u]se[d] or threaten[ed] the immediate use of a dangerous instrument" (Penal Law § 160.15). His actions, coupled with continuing demands and the physical violence constituted "a deliberate, if implicit, threat to use force" (People v. Fields, 179 A.D.2d 458, 459, lv withdrawn 79 N.Y.2d 947).
Concur — Carro, J.P., Wallach, Kupferman, Kassal and Rubin, JJ.