ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A 30-year-old Pasadena man was sentenced to 26 years in jail after being found guilty on several charges related to a July 2018 home invasion in Riviera Beach, the Anne Arundel State’s Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Philip Koletty was found guilty on three counts of second-degree assault and one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics.
Prosecutors said on July 11, 2018, police were called to a home in the 8600 block of Gambier Harbour for a burglary in progress. Responding officers encountered a man in the home, identified as an owner of the home, bleeding heavily from large cuts on his neck and abdominal area. A woman, who was also identified as a homeowner, had cuts to her hand. Police officers helped the victims treat their wounds and stop the bleeding until emergency services arrived.
Investigators revealed that at about 2 a.m. the victims’ family dog began to bark incessantly. As the man walked out of the couple’s bedroom to investigate, he saw an unknown intruder, later identified as Koletty, naked, holding a butcher knife, crouching, and ready to pounce at the top of the staircase. The man yelled at Koletty who screamed and sprang forward, attacking the man with the butcher knife, slashing him at least twice on his left size.
“A desperate altercation ensued,” the State’s Attorney’s Office said, and the female homeowner attempted to take the knife from Koletty, cutting her hand in the process. Koletty eventually fell backwards down the stairs and fled the house.
Officers followed the blood trail from the house to a nearby black 2005 BMW X5 Koletty owned, spotting blood on the door. The trail continued to a nearby wooded area, where police found Koletty and placed him under arrest.
When police got a search warrant for Koletty’s BMW, they found $757 in cash and numerous pills like Oxycodone that police believed were for resale. In the victim’s home, police found Koletty’s clothing in the kitchen, learning that he took the knife from the victims’ butcher block. In Koletty’s clothes police found more pills that actually contained fentanyl. Police later determined that Koletty was intoxicated by alcohol, cocaine, and opiates at the time of the attack.
“The family that was victimized in this terrifying incident had no connection to Mr. Koletty who broke into their home and violently attacked them,” said Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess. “I hope his sentence provides a sense of peace to the family as they continue to recover and move forward from such a senseless and horrific crime. Mr. Koletty's abuse of dangerous drugs was clearly a contributing factor to his violent attack.”
