Robar

LUMBERLAND – A Valley Stream man is in the Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail and a Sparrowbush man is in Westchester Medical Center after being shot by the hunter who mistook him for a deer.

State Police charged Robert Robar, 52, with felony reckless endangerment in the first degree.

Robar was hunting in a wooded area off Rio Dam Road in the Town of Lumberland at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 24 when he saw what he thought was a deer about 350 feet away. He fired one round from a Savage 30-06 rifle, shooting Terry Pelton, 50, of Sparrowbush, in the pelvic area. Pelton was hunting alone, dressed in camouflage, said State Police BCI Lt. Brian Shortall.

“He’s claiming at this point that he did not see anything, that he simply fired in the direction where he heard sounds coming from believing it was a deer,” he said. “Maybe a little more thought should have been put into it and he should have waited until it came out of the bushes so he could see what he is actually shooting at was actually a person and not a deer.”

When Robar realized he had shot a man, he helped him out of the woods and drove him to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis where he was stabilized and flown by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center where emergency surgery was performed. He remains there in critical condition.