A knife-wielding Gardiner resident was arrested after a confrontation with law enforcement when they responded to a report of a domestic dispute at a home on Route 44/55, according to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to the call around 2:30pm on Wednesday, where they encountered 31-year-old Cody Valenti. Officials said he engaged in a heated exchange with officers before retreating into the home’s basement and retrieving a knife. During the brief standoff that followed, Valenti allegedly threatened one of the deputies with the blade. Authorities reported that he surrendered the knife when a deputy drew their gun.
Valenti was taken into custody an police confirmed no one was harmed in the residence.
He was charged with felony counts of menacing a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon, along with a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief. A judge ordered Valenti held at Ulster County Jail with bail set at $50,000 cash, $75,000 bond, or $100,000 unsecured bond. An order of protection was also issued barring him from contacting the individual involved in the initial dispute.
Shortly after being jailed, Valenti allegedly attempted to call the protected party, leading to two additional charges of criminal contempt.
Valenti has a criminal history. He was arrested for reckless driving in 2016 after crashing a BMW into a tree in Saugerties. He was also arrested in 2021 for participating in the theft of 15 long guns from a house in Ruby.
Detectives conducted a search of Valenti’s residence, recovering property and evidence linked to the incident. The investigation remains ongoing.
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