An East Hills man arrested last month for allegedly menacing a Roslyn Estates resident and brandishing a weapon after he took pictures of her property as it underwent construction said Sunday that police response to the incident and his subsequent arraignment in Nassau County District Court was “pay-back” for his “aggressive environmental activism” and various lawsuits he has brought against the county.
“I was shocked by the fact that I was arrested, and I fully expected the district attorney or judge to see through this obvious pay-back,” said Richard Brummel, 54, who is involved in three lawsuits against Nassau County. “It now looks like there are more people or levels of government that will collude to harm me, or interfere with my efforts, which is shocking to me, because I thought this only happened in countries like China and Russia.”
In an e-mail, Nassau County Attorney Carnell Foskey said, “While the County does not comment on pending litigation, Mr. Brummel’s statements are troubling, untrue and more fictional than the Wizard of Oz.”
Brummel is one of three petitioners in two lawsuits against the county, the Town of North Hempstead and the Roslyn Water District to stop a project to construct an air stripper in Christopher Morley Park. He is also helping a Plainview resident challenge the county’s tree removal program.
Brummel was arrested Nov. 10 after Roslyn Estates resident Tina Brown-Ruggiero and a landscaper confronted him for taking pictures of trees that were being removed from her property.
Brummel accused Brown-Ruggiero of not having permits to remove trees from his property, but she said in her post that she received permits from the Village of Roslyn Estates prior to the start of the work.
He said Brown-Ruggiero “physically accosted” him and confronted him a second time after he called the police and retreated up the road to his vehicle.
In a Nov. 10 Facebook post about the incident, Brown-Ruggiero said Brummel refused to identify himself or disclose why he was photographing her property and that she felt threatened by his presence at her home.
“I kept asking him Sir just tell me who u [sic] are!?” Brown-Ruggiero wrote. “Then he takes pictures of ME!?”
During the second confrontation, Brummel said, he took a fire extinguisher out of his Ford Explorer, pointed it toward Brown-Ruggiero and the landscaper and shouted, “Stay away.”
Brown-Ruggiero in her post wrote she was “panicked” and “scared” by Brummel, and yelled “What are you doing!???”
Police arrived moments later, Brummel said, and he was arrested about an hour later.
A Nassau County Police spokeswoman said Wednesday Brummel was charged with menacing and possession of a weapon, but declined to release details of the incident.
Brummel said the police department put out a “quite incredible” news release on the incident that was printed in the Nov. 26 edition of the Roslyn News community newspaper that stated Brummel put the fire extinguisher back in his car when he saw the police car approaching.
The police spokeswoman said the department did not put out a press release about the incident.
“The police car arrived around a curve. From the time I saw the car to the time he drove past me to meet the residents, about one second elapsed. I could not have put the fire extinguisher away if I wanted to,” Brummel said. “But remember, I called the police and I knew full well they were coming. In fact I wanted nothing more than for them to arrive. It took about fifteen minutes after my 911 call. I had nothing to hide. This story simply falls apart upon examination. I am shocked the district attorney hasn’t figured this out.”
During Brummel’s Nov. 28 arraignment, Nassau County Court Judge Anna Anzalone set a $500 bail and issued an order of protection for Brown-Ruggiero.
Brummel said he could have been jailed indefinitely if a family member had not assisted with his bail.
“This county is playing dirty and a lot of people who want to see me hurt must be weighing in on this,” Brummel said. “An opposing attorney in one case knew about the arrest before it had been reported in the media and brought it up to discredit me. There are a lot of red flags here.”
