Erie Man Handed Hefty Prison Sentence For Violent Crimes In North County

BUFFALO – An Erie (Pa.) man, who was convicted of an armed carjacking, was sentenced to nearly 13 years in federal prison on Wednesday. 

 The U.S. Attorney’s office says Dimas Colon-Cruz, 37, traveled with two other people on stolen ATV’s from Erie to Dunkirk on July 20th, 2015, and pistol-whipped two victims in the area of Robin and Second Streets.
According to the report, the assaults subsequently resulted in the suspects stealing a vehicle during the incident.

Police said, immediately following the assaults, Cruz and his co-defendants, Michael Gonzalez-Colon and Denis Cruz, traveled to  Lakeside Lawncare in Fredonia, where they burglarized the business and stole a second vehicle, a gray 2002 GMC Sierra pickup truck.

Both vehicles were recovered by Erie Police two days later.

Michael Gonzalez-Colon has been convicted and sentenced. Charges are pending against Denis Cruz.

Tuesday’s sentencing is the result of an collaborative multi-jurisdictional investigation by the Dunkirk Police Department,  the Erie, Pennsylvania Police Department, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin P. Lyons.