Montauk Confrontations

Overnight on Saturday, Montauk was the scene of two  incidents in which men had to be subdued before they could be arrested. One of them was still in the county jail as of Tuesday, unable to raise $1,000 bail, after a confrontational arraignment Sunday morning in East Hampton Town Justice Court.

Justin M. Jones of East Quogue, 44, was in the 7-Eleven parking lot early Sunday morning, where, as an officer watched, he began engaging bystanders, “clenching his fists and taking a fighting stance, while acting belligerently, and shouting profanities,” according to the report.

When officers moved in to try to calm the situation, the man became confrontational, they said. “If you raise that flashlight again,” he is quoted as saying, “I’m going to take it from you and shove it up your ass.”

Mr. Jones then began running away. Confronted again by officers, he continued to resist, refusing to be handcuffed. “The defendant continued to try and flee until he was finally subdued,” the report said, by Taser.

Arraigned before East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky, Mr. Jones spoke softly at first, telling the court that he was a “self-employed carpenter, woodworker, and furniture restorer.” His tone changed, however, when Justice Tekulsky began to explore his criminal record.

“I wouldn’t call it a criminal record,” Mr. Jones said. “Fighting is not a crime.”

“You have a number of misdemeanor convictions and at least one felony conviction,” Justice Tekulsky replied, noting two warrants for failure to appear in court as well.

The defendant said he had not been allowed to call a lawyer. He then complained that he had been “chased down, then shot with a Taser” just hours earlier.

Justice Tekulsky promised him that the police would give him ample opportunity to call both lawyers and friends, in order to make the $1,000 bail he was about to set.

“One thousand dollars? One thousand dollars on a Sunday? Aaah,” Mr. Jones said. “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to speak in America, in a 7-Eleven.”

Justice Tekulsky explained that Mr. Jones would be taken to county jail if he did not make bail, and would be brought back to the court today, where he would meet with a lawyer from the Legal Aid Society.

“I was accosted last night by your officers for no good reason,” Mr. Jones answered. Justice Tekulsky, who had continually warned him not to speak about the case, now warned him about his tone to the court. “I apologize for that,” Mr. Jones said.

He then went back to the prisoner’s bench. “These flip-flops were brand new last night,” he said loudly, using an obscenity. “Hey!” Justice Tekulsky said. The courtroom was silent.

Aside from the charge of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, Mr. Jones faces less serious charges of harassment and disorderly conduct.

Christopher J. Curtis of Manhattan, 26, was shouting at passersby in the street between The Point Bar and Grill and the Memory Motel in downtown Montauk just after midnight Saturday. When an officer asked him to stop yelling, he allegedly started screaming obscenities.

As he was about to be handcuffed on a charge of disorderly conduct, Mr. Curtis “tensed up, refusing to give up his hands, until he was subdued,” police reported. He was then charged with resisting arrest. His bail was set at $500, which was posted.