NEW YORK (AP) — The co-owner of a New York City bar that authorities said has been defying coronavirus restrictions was taken into custody early Sunday after running over a deputy with a car, authorities said.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Danny Presti fled from his bar, Mac’s Public House, after deputies observed patrons entering the establishment Saturday night in violation of city and state closure orders, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said.
Deputies attempted to arrest Presti as he left the bar early Sunday, but Presti got into his car, struck a deputy and kept driving for about 100 yards even as the deputy was left hanging onto the hood, Fucito said.
Presti, 34, was eventually stopped and apprehended, the sheriff said. Charges against him were pending.
The injured deputy was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries. The deputy’s condition wasn’t immediately available.
An email seeking comment was sent to an attorney representing the bar’s owners.
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 tavern is in an area designated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as an orange zone because of spiking COVID-19 rates and was not supposed to be serving customers indoors. But the owners had declared the bar an “autonomous zone,” a nod to protesters who claimed control over a Seattle neighborhood in June.
Now he goes to jail and the New York bail reform won’t save him. Idiot!
I sympathized but ramming a cop and injuring him is obviously beyond the pale. Hope they are merciful as he is trying to save his business but he crossed a huge line.
Was Heshy at the bar again last night? He was there last week to show support for the law breaking bar owner