Who is Danny Presti? Staten Island bar owner arrested for second time after ramming his car into sheriff deputy
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK CITY: The co-owner of Staten Island bar Mac’s Public House in Grant City has been re-arrested after he allegedly rammed his car into a Sheriff’s deputy on Sunday, December 6, and was released. Danny Presti was arrested only a few days for continuing to serve alcohol in his bar despite the Covid-19 restrictions. Presti and its other owner, Kiera Pracht, refused to shut the bar and declared itself as an “autonomous zone” and continued to function since December 5, even though its liquor license was suspended.
The cops reportedly tried taking the 34-year-old into custody after observing patrons enter Mac Public’s House through an adjacent neighborhood. The police on entering the bar in plainclothes noticed that the establishment wasn’t complying with the Covid-19 protocols as announced by the state. Just after midnight on Sunday, when the cops identified themselves to Presti, he reportedly fled on foot to his car and ended up driving into one of the deputies. According to NBC New York, the bar owner “continued driving with the injured deputy clinging to the hood”.
The rest of the cops were finally able to stop Presti’s car and take him to custody. The deputy was taken to the hospital, no information regarding his condition has been made available. As per reports, “Presti was arraigned Sunday afternoon in Staten Island’s 122nd Precinct on 10 charges including third-degree assault, reckless driving, menacing and resisting arrest.” He was later released on his “own recognizance". Despite the arrests and charges against the bar for failing to comply with the restrictions imposed by the state, Presti and his business partner continues to maintain that they weren’t at fault and were simply trying to “make a living”.
Presti showed himself to media on Sunday evening and said, “There's still sadness inside because we have to get everybody open. I get phone calls from the other business owners and staff of these places and they're still trying to figure out how they're coming up with rent this month and how to get their kids Christmas gifts.” And, his partner, McAlarney, said: “We are just trying to make a living and feed our families. We jumped through every hoop, did whatever they did. But at some point, you can't just keep shutting down."
He has also started a petition on GoFundMe to raise funds to save the bar. It has collected over $3,400 so far, with $10,000 as its goal. According to the Daily Mail, nearly 2000 people had gathered outside the Staten Island bar after it was shut down on December 3, chanting “Defund The Sheriff', Cuomo sucks!” Following Presti’s arrest on December 2, the New York governor released a statement saying, “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.”
Presti appeared on fox News on December 5 for an interview, during which he said, "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.”