GUILDERLAND — Nancy Ware feels twice victimized.

Ware, 73, says she encountered an extreme case of road rage in September when an irate motorist tried to intimidate her and then got out of his car and jumped on the hood of hers, breaking through the windshield with his fist, and pummeling her as she drove.

That man, Michael Tybur, who was 57 at the time of his arrest for fourth-degree criminal mischief, appeared in Guilderland Town Court last Thursday and, following a deal worked out beforehand with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct.

He also paid roughly $2,400 in restitution and a $150 fine.

Ware said she did not know of the plea deal or that Tybur had appeared in court until she heard from The Enterprise last Friday. “I didn’t even know it was to happen. I have known nothing,” she said.

Both Tybur and his lawyer, Joseph McCoy, refused to talk to The Enterprise.

Ware says her life has changed dramatically since the Sept. 11 incident. She still lives on her own in an apartment in the senior housing community on Marquis Drive on $1,000 a month but she is now hesitant to drive and must rely on others to shop and run errands for her.

“I’m not trusting,” she said of her change in her outlook on life. “I realize how vulnerable you are to someone else’s whim.”

She didn’t have money to pay for a lawyer, she said, and believes she wasn’t represented. “I would have liked justice done,” said Ware.

“I needed someone speaking for me,” she said. “It’s like you’re a victim over and over again.”

She went on about Tybur, “He should have had some consequences. There is nothing to deter him from carrying on this type of volatile behavior. He got away with a lot. There will be other victims.”

She was particularly disappointed the court did not require Tybur to undergo anger-management sessions. “The next woman could be critically injured or dead,” she said.

Ware believes the justice system failed her. “I’m not the least bit important. I have broken teeth, missing hair,” she said. “I had to go to the ER three times with severe head pain for the concussion. It’s affected my memory.”

Cecilia Walsh, spokeswoman for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, responded, when asked by The Enterprise about Ware’s complaints, in an email, saying, “After reviewing all of the facts presented in the matter, this disposition was deemed the most appropriate for the case. Staff from our office, including an Assistant District Attorney and Crime Victim Advocate, have kept the victim in the case up to date on all court proceedings.

“Representatives from our Crime Victim Services Unit met with this victim in person and have had several phone conversations to ensure that this victim was informed of her rights and options, including referrals to local victim assistance programs.”

Ware said she had met with a representative she didn’t find helpful and that, on the list of resources she was given, “Half the numbers are no longer in service and the other half don’t have time to be of assistance.”

She opined, “The resources they say are out there do not work...They talk a good game but do nothing.”

In court

Judge John Bailey presided over a crowded courtroom, a criminal court session, on Jan. 8. About an hour-and-a-half into the session, Tybur’s court appearance took less than 10 minutes.

Dressed in an olive shirt and slacks, he stood before the bench with his lawyer, Joseph McCoy of Corrigan, McCoy & Bush in Rensselaer.

“We were waiting for a final restitution figure,” McCoy told Bailey, recommending no fine for Tybur “because he’s paying substantial restitution.”

Bailey looked through the paperwork, noted the plea to disorderly conduct, the restitution, and an order of protection. He asked what kind.

“Complete,” said McCoy. “They have no relationship whatsoever.”

“No fine?” asked Bailey. “It’s not appropriate to damage someone’s property — ”

“It’s medical and dental bills,” said McCoy, as well as car repairs.

At that point, the assistant district attorney, Megan Spillane, who had been working through a large number of files spread out on a table before the bench, turned to address the judge. She agreed it was unusual not to have a fine but said it was because of the lack of proof.

Bailey responded that he has respect for the DA’s office as it considers cases and knows of details he doesn’t.

“I do feel like a fine here is appropriate,” Bailey went on, setting it at $150. Bailey began to name a surcharge but McCoy interjected there was no surcharge since Tybur was paying the restitution.

The judge then looked at Tybur and asked how he pleads to disorderly conduct.

“Guilty,” said Tybur.

“I accept the plea,” said Bailey.

As Tybur went to pay his fine, McCoy was joined at the bench by his next client, Tariq Royal, 24, a tall black man, from Albany.

“You’re smiling like you’re having a good time and chewing gum, which looks disrespectful,” the judge said to Royal. “Now you’re gazing at the ceiling and rolling your eyes. That strikes me as more disrespectful.”

The judge then became interested in looking at Royal’s record, flipping through papers. “Double felonies, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, that’s an impressive allegation,” said Bailey.

As Royal started objecting, Bailey said, “You were chewing gum, weren’t you?”

“I was,” said Royal, who had apparently swallowed it.

“Don’t choke on your gum,” said the judge.

At this point, Tybur left the courtroom with a Guilderland Police officer to go to the police quarters. “It’s just tying up loose ends,” said the officer on court duty, explaining it was to handle routine matters like fingerprinting. Tybur returned to the town hall lobby through the front door about 15 minutes later to join McCoy.

“He’s not talking,” McCoy told The Enterprise.

Aftermath

“Judge Bailey has no idea of any of the injuries that were sustained,” Ware said this week.

She had received her check for $2,423.66 from McCoy on Monday, but said getting justice wasn’t about getting money. “I’ve been left with permanent injuries,” she said.

Ware went on, “It’s like no one cares.” She said she never met the assistant district attorney handling the case and her one phone call from the assistant district attorney she recalled was so frustrating for her that she hung up.

“Her concern was that he [Tybur] doesn’t have a tarnished reputation,” said Ware. “She said she represented the state, not me or anything to do with me. She said, it’s just your word against his.”

Tybur, a lineman for a power company who lives on Frances Lane off Schoolhouse Road, had told The Enterprise the week of the incident that a speeding motorist rear-ended his car, a Nissan compact, and refused to stop. When he got out to confront her and stood in front of her SUV at the intersection of Schoolhouse Road and Western Avenue, she ran into him, forcing him on her hood, where he broke through the windshield in an effort to shut off her ignition while she battled him.

Ware says there are two tapes from her 9-1-1 calls she made on Sept. 11, documenting her version of events: Tybur was tailgating her, passed her illegally and dangerously, and then slammed on the brakes in front of her, causing her to accidentally “tap the back of his car.” She was frightened by his ranting and didn’t stop until she was boxed in at the intersection of Schoolhouse Road and Western Avenue, when he jumped on the hood of her car, put his fist through her windshield, and pummeled her until she could drive to a highway crew and safety.

Ailments and damages

Ware’s granddaughter was married this past weekend, an important event for Ware; she was thrilled to attend the celebration at the Glen Sanders Mansion. She had her hair specially done to cover the bald spots she said Tybur had caused when he yanked out her hair in September, she said, but the evening was marred by the terrible pain from the injuries she suffered in September. “I was in so much pain, I could hardly walk,” she said. “I had to sit in a special chair.”

Ware’s list of ailments caused by the attack is long and expensive.

Ware said the incident left her with permanent damage to her right eye. “The pupil is the shape of a football since that happened. It blew the center of the eye,” she said. She can see “nothing close” with her right eye. “No reading,” said Ware. “Glasses won’t help.”

Tybur’s repeated blows to her face, she said, cracked the two front porcelain crowns she’d had on her teeth since she was 12 years old. Replacing the crowns cost almost $2,200, she said.

Additionally, an MRI after the incident showed seven tears around the rotator cuff of her right shoulder, said Ware, adding, “I probably need surgery; I haven’t been able to use my right arm…I’m really too old for surgery.”

Ware has a plate in her neck and said, “When he punched me, there was whiplash to my neck every time.”

Problems with her right knee and hip were aggravated as well, she said, and she’s been to see a spinal surgeon three times.

Ware has rarely driven her car since the September incident. “I was unable to get in a car or drive one,” she said of the aftermath. “My son or grandson would take me to appointments.”

Most of the damage done to her 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe has been repaired. Fixing the windshield cost $500, she said; the stereo system that was broken remains broken, waiting for funds.

There is still glass and blood in the car, she said. “When you turn on the blowers at the front windshield,” Ware said, “it blows pieces of glass up.”

She went on, “My blood is still on the side passenger window.”

Worse, she said, “I keep seeing the look on his face as he was pummeling me.”

The same question occurs to her over and over: “I ask myself, ‘What other action I could have taken?’” says Ware, answering herself, “I did what they tell you to do: Get to a safe place.”

The greatest pain, said Ware, is psychological. “You’re at the mercy of someone and there’s nothing you can do.”