Man who Killed N.Y. Trooper in 1978 Accused of Attacking Officer

Watertown police stopped a man for a DWI, and the suspect, who had been convicted of criminally negligent homicide involving a New York State trooper, assaulted an officer while being booked.

By Geoff Herbert

Source syracuse.com

Feb. 15, 2022

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A man who killed a New York state trooper in 1978 is now accused of attacking a Watertown police sergeant last week.

The Watertown Daily Times reports Harold R. Rounds Jr., 61, of Glen Park, was arrested by Watertown city police on Feb. 7 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after a crash in Thompson Park. While in the booking room, he allegedly kept trying to get up and walk around; Sgt. Cristin N. O’Brien tried to sit him down, and he allegedly hooked his legs around her and twisted.

O’Brien suffered a knee sprain and is undergoing tests to determine if she has a more serious injury.

Rounds was charged with second-degree assault, DWI, moving from a lane unsafely, and refusing to take a breath test.

According to the Daily Times, Rounds has previously been arrested for drunk driving several times. In 1978, when he was 18 years old, Rounds killed Gerald A. DeGroot, a 48-year-old zone sergeant with New York State Police in Watertown, in an early morning collision when his vehicle entered the oncoming lane and crashed into DeGroot’s vehicle head-on. Rounds was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to one year in jail.

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