The co-owner of a Staten Island pub infamous for defying city and state COVID-19 health restrictions has avoided felony charges after he allegedly drove into a sheriff's deputy who was trying to detain him outside his bar on December 6th.
Daniel Presti, 34, faced charges including felony second degree assault causing physical injury to an officer, reckless endangerment, and reckless driving for the incident. But after hearing testimony from Presti, a Staten Island grand jury decided to charge him with only two misdemeanors for allegedly selling alcohol inside the bar, Mac's Public House, without a license.
The State Liquor Authority had suspended Mac's Public House's liquor license in late November after the bar was caught serving customers in defiance of the state's COVID-19 orange zone restrictions, which prohibited indoor dining and drinking due to the high rates of COVID-19 in the area.
Presti was arrested on December 1st for continuing to welcome customers inside and openly flouting the restrictions. Protests outside the bar ensued, with the crowd—which included Proud Boys and some Republican officials—condemning what they said were overly restrictive laws put in place in response to the pandemic.
Days later, the NYC Sheriff's office attempted to arrest Presti again, after deputies said they observed a stream of customers go into Mac's Public House through an entrance at a neighboring business, guided by a host, to eat and drink without masks on.
Shortly after midnight, deputies approached Presti as he was walking to his car. They say they identified themselves and ordered Presti to stop, but he jumped in his car and drove away, hitting a deputy in the process. The deputy clung to the hood of the car while Presti allegedly kept driving for 100 yards before finally stopping.
Sheriff Joseph Fucito said the deputy sheriff was injured and taken to Staten Island University Hospital with multiple bone fractures.
Presti was arrested but later released without bail, even though the felony assault charge was bail eligible. The Legal Aid Society blasted Staten Island DA Michael McMahon for a double standard in deciding to release Presti without bail, issuing a statement saying it shows a "disparate legal system that benefits white New Yorkers with means over Black and brown New Yorkers."
"While Mr. Presti, a white man who stands accused of assaulting a police officer with his motor vehicle, is at home with his family, able to continue operating his business and has unfettered access to his defense lawyers, thousands of equally presumed innocent Staten Islanders are sent to Rikers per year on far less serious charges,” said Marie Ndiaye, supervising attorney of the Decarceration Project at The Legal Aid Society. “Those less fortunate than Mr. Presti are the overwhelmingly Black and brown clients of Legal Aid Society.”
The Legal Aid Society declined to comment on the grand jury's decision. A spokesman for McMahon did not respond to a request for comment, but in a statement, McMahon defended his handling of the case, declaring that "acts of violence against these officers is not something we take lightly, and my thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Deputy Sheriff injured during the performance of his duty."
De Blasio spokesperson Mitch Schwartz decried the grand jury's decision, calling it "an absurd miscarriage of justice. The defendant is a serial scofflaw who almost killed a uniformed officer—on camera—after fleeing the consequences of his actions. His establishment endangered New Yorkers' lives in the middle of a pandemic. We're a safer city without it, and the grand jury should have known better."
Sheriff Fucito said the injured deputy, identified by the Daily News as Sergeant Kenneth Matos, is still recovering from the injuries he sustained.
"The multiple evidence videos submitted to the grand jury clearly showed deadly physical force was deployed against a uniformed deputy sheriff for carrying out his duty,” Fucito added in a statement. “The evidence was of equal or greater caliber then other similar deadly assaults where criminal indictments were obtained. The choices of the Grand Jury are beyond my review, but we stand by the investigation and actions of the deputy sheriffs concerning Mac’s Pub.”
Presti’s attorney Mark Fonte did not respond to a request for comment on the grand jury decision, which was delivered on Friday. Fonte has argued that the sheriff's deputies failed to identify themselves while attempting to arrest Presti, who he said was running “for his life.”
In an interview with the Staten Island Advance, Fonte said prosecutors had reviewed medical records and determined that "the sheriff's officer did not break his legs nor any other bone in his body."
Fonte also called for Fucito's resignation, saying, "This lie by the sheriff's office should not go unpunished. My client suffered terribly as a result of the lies by the sheriff."
On Sunday, Sheriff Fucito clarified in an email that "Sergeant Mato's injuries were misdiagnosed by the emergency room physician. Sergeant Matos is still out of work on medical leave from the injuries he sustained from Mr. Presti's vehicular assault. As an agency, we stand behind Sergeant Mato and pray for his speedy recovery."
Mac's Public House is currently closed. According to the most recent data released from the NYC Health Department, the ZIP code in which the bar is located has a COVID-19 testing positivity rate of 10.18%, among the highest in the city.
Presti plans to hold a press conference outside the pub on Monday morning, and has accused the SLA of "actively extorting NYC businesses by issuing them tens of thousands of dollars in fines for micro infractions."
This story has been updated with additional information from Sheriff Joseph Fucito about the injured deputy.
