Man accused of setting fire to a big rig during Albany riot sentenced to 20 years in prison
Authorities in New York have announced that a man convicted on multiple charges related to a riot that occurred in Albany in 2020 has been sentenced to prison.
On June 23, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office announced that 40 year old Dwight Parker was sentenced to 18 years in State Prison, followed by 5 years of post-release supervision, and a consecutive term of 2 to 6 years in State Prison.
Parker was convicted in April 2022 on six charges, including Attempted Aggravated Assault Against a Police Officer as an Act of Terrorism, Attempted Aggravated Assault Against a Police Officer, First-degree Attempted Assault, Third-degree Arson, Second-degree Criminal Mischief, and First-degree Riot.
The charges were issued as a result of an incident that occurred on May 30, 2020, in Albany, New York in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
Authorities say that around 9 p.m. on 259 South Pearl Street in Albany, Parker threw an incendiary device towards police.
Additionally, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office says that Parker “was accused of damaging a Tractor Trailer in the area of South Pearl Street and Westerlo Street in the City of Albany, at approximately 9:30 p.m, by setting it on fire.”
You can view a video statement on the sentencing from Assistant District Attorney Collin D’Arcy below.
Parker was said to have been working with Ah-Juan Boyd to set the truck on fire during the Albany riot. Boyd was charged with Arson in the Third Degree, Attempted Arson in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony, and Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree after his arrest in 2020.
“Boyd was a participant in a riot on South Pearl Street in which rioters stopped a tractor trailer on South Pearl Street and removed the driver. Boyd then proceeded to set fire to the tractor trailer as it was parked in the middle of South Pearl Street at Westerlo Street,” Albany Police stated.