Anti-Lockdown Bar Owner Hit Deputy With His Car: Cops

Danny Presti is taken away in cuffs
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 6, 2020 2:05 PM CST
Sheriff: Defiant NYC Bar Owner Hit Deputy With His Car
Mac's Public House co-owner Danny Presti is taken away in handcuffs after being arrested by New York City sheriff's deputies in the Staten Island borough of New York.   (Steve White via 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, the AP reports. Danny Presti tried to drive away from his bar, Mac's Public House, as deputies were arresting him for serving patrons 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 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. Mark Fonte, an attorney for Presti, said he had not yet had an opportunity to speak to his client.

Fonte said he expected Presti to be arraigned later Sunday. The injured deputy was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries. The deputy's condition wasn't immediately available. The Staten Island bar was the site of protests last week after the sheriff's office arrested Presti on charges of violating restrictions aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus and obstructing governmental administration. 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.

(More lockdown stories.)

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