Staten Island 'autonomous zone' bar owner is released after being hit with 10 charges for 'driving into a sheriff's deputy' trying to arrest him for flouting COVID closure rules
The co-owner of a Staten Island bar who continues to defy an indoor dining ban was released from custody Sunday night and charged with 10 offenses after police said he ran over an officer with his car.
Danny Presti, 34, was released on his own recognizance and charged with third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury, menacing, reckless driving, resisting arrest and unlawfully fleeing a police officer when he allegedly struck New York City Sheriff sergeant Kenneth Matos with a Jeep.
Presti fled from his bar, Mac's Public House, after deputies observed patrons entering the establishment in violation of city and state closure orders, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said. Source told The New York Post customers had been entering the speakeasy via a nearby address.
Deputies say they had attempted to arrest Presti as he left the bar early Sunday, but Presti got into his car, struck Matos and kept driving for about 100 yards even as the deputy was left hanging onto the hood, Fucito said.
Presti was eventually stopped and apprehended, the sheriff said.
He hit the officer 'intentionally and with depraved indifference to human life,' the charge sheet reads, according to the New York Post. Matos was left in 'substantial pain' and in 'fear for his physical safety.'
Danny Presti, owner of Mac's Public House on Staten Island, is escorted from the 122nd Precinct in New York after his arrest on charges of hitting a sheriff's officer with his car when he allegedly tried to flee from arrest
Presti is pictured after an earlier arrest Tuesday for violating COVID dining rules
Presti had declared his business an 'autonomous zone' after it fell within an orange zone because of spiking COVID-19 rates and was not supposed to be serving customers indoors. He had already been arrested for violating that rule on Tuesday
The charge sheet claims Presti 'drove with Sgt. Matos on the hood of his motor vehicle down South Railroad Avenue, turned left onto Lincoln Avenue, and made another left onto North Railroad before being stopped by a sheriff's motor vehicle.'
Matos suffered fractured bones, the Post reported.
Presti had declared his business an 'autonomous zone' after it fell within an orange zone because of spiking COVID-19 rates and was not supposed to be serving customers indoors. He had already been arrested for violating that rule on Tuesday.
A GoFundMe set up to help Mac's Public House has raised more than $80,000 as of Sunday morning.
On Wednesday night, around 2,000 people were said to be outside the Staten Island bar chanting 'Defund The Sheriff', Cuomo sucks!' and 'USA USA'.
The COVID positivity rate on Staten Island stood at 7.58 percent Friday.
An email seeking comment was sent to an attorney representing the bar's owners.
On Wednesday night, around 2,000 people were said to be outside the Staten Island bar chanting 'Defund The Sheriff', Cuomo sucks!' and 'USA USA'
Sources said customers had been entering the speakeasy via a nearby address
The Staten Island bar was the site of protests last week, pictured, after the sheriff's office said plainclothes officers were able to go inside and order food and beverages on Tuesday. Presti was arrested at the time
People protest outside of the Mac's Public House after closed it down amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Staten Island borough of New York City, U.S., December 2
The Staten Island bar was the site of protests last week after the sheriff's office said plainclothes officers were able to go inside and order food and beverages on Tuesday. Presti was arrested at the time.
The owners had declared the bar an 'autonomous zone,' a nod to protesters who claimed control over a Seattle neighborhood in June.
Presti told Fox News on Friday: 'At this point...we are losing faith, and kind of lost faith in the ability for our local and city governments to help us.
'So if they don't give us assistance in some way, or are working with us to get back open in a safe manner, we're going to have to take things into our own hands.'
Fellow owner Keith McAlarney said he took such actions because he felt his business would not survive another shutdown.
'We are just trying to make a living and feed our families,' he said outside the bar on Wednesday. 'We jumped through every hoop, did whatever they did. But at some point, you can't just keep shutting down.'
Cuomo on Wednesday released a statement addressing first Presti's arrest.
'This owner is learning that actions have consequences. Breaking the law and putting your neighbors' lives at risk during a global pandemic to make a political statement is simply unacceptable,' it read.
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