Joshua Mitchell, 29, gets 22 years in prison for theft, assaulting Home Depot employee

A Queens man was sentenced to 22 years in prison Thursday after he ran over a Levittown Home Depot employee who tried to stop him from stealing more than $3,000 in plumbing supplies.

Joshua Mitchell, 29, was convicted in May after a jury found him guilty of four felonies, including assault, leaving the scene of an incident resulting in serious injury and grand larceny for the June 2020 confrontation, according to the Nassau County district attorney's office.

Prosecutors said a security guard at the Levittown store observed Mitchell putting more than 90 pieces of plumbing equipment, worth $3,321, into a 54-gallon bucket. The loss prevention officer then saw Mitchell trying to leave the store pushing a shopping cart with the bucket without paying.

When employees confronted him, authorities said Mitchell left the cart and ran through the store and out a different exit, where he got into a Hyundai Elantra with fake Pennsylvania license plates. Another employee at the store, who was a kitchen designer, tried to stop Mitchell in the parking lot, prosecutors said.

Police arrested Mitchell three months later at his home in Laurelton, Queens.

Mitchell's attorney declined to comment Thursday.

District attorney officials said Mitchell struck the employee with his car, "launching him into the air," before speeding away on Hempstead Turnpike. The employee later underwent multiple surgeries for a broken wrist and torn ligament, rotator cuff and labrum in his shoulder, prosecutors said.

Officials said the employee needed a plate and screws in his wrist and the crash resulted in bone spurs, which caused permanent damage, including limited movement and weakened strength in his wrist and hand.

A jury in Mineola convicted Mitchell after deliberating for less than two hours, following a three-day trial, according to prosecutors.

Acting state Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim sentenced Mitchell on Thursday to 22 years in prison and 5 years of post-release supervision. He faced up to 25 years in prison.

"Joshua Mitchell will spend decades in prison not only for theft, but for a violent act that left an employee of The Home Depot with permanent physical damage," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. "The victim was only trying to do the right thing, and everyday tasks are now anything but that because of this defendant’s reckless and criminal actions. The sentence handed down today reflects the serious harm this defendant caused, and the consequences of doubling down on a crime."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.