NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The owner of Mac's Public House - the Staten Island bar who continuously defied COVID-19 restrictions filed a new lawsuit on Wednesday against the city's Sheriff's Department for wrongful imprisonment and "defamation."
Daniel Presti and his attorney, Louis Gelormino, filed a suit in Brooklyn Federal Court after city sheriffs raided the pub on Dec. 1 and allege that the sheriff's department ran a defamation campaign against Presti.
During the Dec. raid, officials discovered over a dozen customers inside the bar that at the time were only allowed to serve take-out due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The suit, however, fails to mention the coronavirus pandemic or that the establishment was defying COVID-19 protocols at the time that the raid took place.
According to the suit, after Presti's arrest for obstruction of governmental administration, sheriffs came back to Mac's Public House in the following days and blockaded the bar, prompting several rallies outside of the bar after with protesters chanting "USA," "F**k Cuomo" and demanding that the sheriffs leave the establishment.
The suit also alleges that there was a defamation campaign by the sheriff's department against Presti because they said he broke an officer's legs then said he only fractured the officer's legs.
Presti's suit claims include false imprisonment, negligent hiring, and defamation and seeks unspecified damages.
