Trustee Attacked, Police Say

An order of protection was issued on Friday for Jim Grimes of Montauk, an East Hampton Town Trustee, banning Martin Drew of Springs from any contact with him after Mr. Drew allegedly head-butted him last Thursday in the Town Hall parking lot.

A meeting of a town committee had ended shortly before. “I walked out, was having a conversation with some other people, this guy was kind of lurking, sort of to the periphery,” Mr. Grimes said by phone on Friday. “He clearly was agitated from the get-go, and it escalated to a point where he head-butted me.”

“He tried to head-butt me again and ended up diving onto his face on the pavement. He dove, I stepped back, he couldn’t get his hands back in front of him, jumped back up, and said he was going to beat me up.”

Police showed up soon after, at 11:40 a.m., and cited Mr. Drew for second-degree harassment, a violation. 

In a telephone interview this week, Mr. Drew disagreed with Mr. Grimes’s version of the events that led to his arrest.

He claimed that Mr. Grimes had insulted him in vulgar personal terms. He also rejected Mr. Grimes’s assertion that he was “lurking” at Town Hall. “I was there to pick up an agenda, just doing my normal business,” Mr. Drew said.

“Your trustee has a disdain for me and a disdain for the public,” he said.

During Mr. Drew’s arraignment on Friday, Cynthia Darrell, supervisor of the Legal Aid Society’s East End bureau, told East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky that Mr. Drew is a “lifelong resident who is willing to fight charges.”

Mr. Grimes, who was not at the arraignment, is said to have requested the order of protection after the incident. Justice Tekulsky granted it, warning Mr. Drew that should he fail to attend all court dates a warrant would be issued for his arrest. The order not only specifies that Mr. Drew stay away from Mr. Grimes, but also prohibits any third-party contact.

Mr. Drew frequently attends public meetings, and the protective order would preclude his attendance if Mr. Grimes was present. Ms. Darrell asked if it could be modified so Mr. Drew could legally go to meetings. The decision on that question has been postponed to Mr. Drew’s next scheduled court appearance, on Oct. 12, when, he said, his own lawyer will be on hand to represent him. 

 With reporting by Christopher Walsh