“Autonomous” S.I. Bar Owner Claims Deputy Has No Broken Leg & Incident was a Set-Up

By: Jared Evan

The lawyer representing a bar owner in Staten Island who was arrested for allegedly striking a deputy and kept driving for about 100 yards as the deputy was left hanging onto the hood, after an attempted arrest, claims the officers never identified themselves and the media reports of the deputy breaking his leg are false.

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.

Mac’s Public House has been grabbing local headlines for their defiance of COVID restrictions placed upon businesses in an “orange zone”. The bar has stayed open, even after multiple fines and their liquor license being revoked.

They declared themselves an “autonomous zone”, independent of local COVID edicts, which the owners feel to be unconstitutional and have been destroying local businesses.

Presti, 34, was eventually stopped and apprehended, the sheriff said. Charges against him were pending.

However, Presti’s attorney, Louis Gelormino, told reporters at a press conference that his client was two blocks from the bar on a dark street when he was approached from behind by “two burly officers” who “clearly did not identify themselves.” He said they yelled “Presti, hey Presti” before running toward him.

Gelormino called the sheriff’s claim that the deputy suffered broken legs “an outrageous, outright lie.”

“I can assure people that he did not break his legs and I can tell you why,” he said. “Because Mr. Presti was released with no bail. If he ran over a sheriff’s deputy, they would have asked for half a million dollars in bail.”

Gelormino described the Sheriff and deputy as similar to a CIA “black-op” operation. He claims, there were no ambulances on the scene, no police investigation and no interviews conducted after Presti allegedly attacked the Deputy with his car.

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. Libertarian’s, Constitutionalists and Conservative activists have embraced Mac’s Public House and see it as a flash point against what they describe as draconian and unconstitutional regulations against small businesses. Presti and his advocates believe that small businesses are just as “essential” as big box stores such as Target.