Local entrepreneur Steven Dann, who made recent headlines for complaining about the Great Neck Plaza Auto Fest/Street Fair attracting “hicks,” was arrested for harassment on May 2 for allegedly grabbing a parking meter attendant’s pen and summons book, and then kicking the parking meter attendant in the groin, according to Village of Great Neck Estates Chief of Police John Garbedian and documents from the Village Great Neck Estates Police Department.
“It was a Great Neck Estates parking meter attendant in the process of writing a parking summons, at which point Steven Dann, 30, he came up and started yelling and grabbing at the parking attendant’s pen and summons book,” Garbedian said. “He then [kicked] him in the groin area.” Garbedian’s account followed an incident report filed by the Village of Great Neck police department.
A summons was issued for harassment and the victim refused medical attention, according to police documents.
Garbedian said Dann appeared at the Village of Great Neck Estates Village Justice Court on May 3.
“It’s really behavior that can’t be tolerated,” Garbedian said. “These people are unarmed. They are working for the village and they have to be respected, like any other civic servant.”
Dann denied kneeing the parking attendant in the groin, in a series of e-mails from his publicist, Paul Rogers of INDUSTRY PUBLICITY. Rogers said Dann was not arrested, read his rights, or “cuffed.”
“I was not arrested,” Dann said, in the e-mail. “The information is 100 percent false.”
Rogers said Dann was cited for parking on private property.
“The police chief personally told the agent they were wrong and the ticket will be dismissed,” Rogers said.
Garbedian denied making the statement.
“That’s not true,” he said. “Basically, what I told him is that it has to go before the judge.
“It’s out of my hands now. It’s out of the ticketing agent’s hands and a dismissal would have to come from a judge, if that is the case. It can’t be decided in discussions. It has to go before the court.”
The e-mail from Rogers continued, “Steven has been a Great Neck business owner for many years now and has done much work for the better improvement of the town you should write about. It seems to be a slow news day for you guys over there.”
Calling the alleged incident an unusual occurrence, Garbedian said, “I guess when emotions get high people sometimes do the wrong thing.”
Dann, who owns restaurant Crave 11025 on 68 Middle Neck Road and Steven Dann shoes on 81 Middle Neck Road, recently was involved in a petition opposing the AutoFest/Street Fair, an annual fall event sponsored by the Great Neck Plaza Business Improvement District with the support of the Village of Great Neck Plaza. At a meeting with BID officials to discuss his opposition, Dann said the fair was attracting “hicks from God knows where” and called for either eliminating or revamping the event.
Dann’s alleged incident was the second incident involving a Plaza businessman and a village employee writing a ticket in recent weeks.
On April 23, a Hewlett man was arrested for an alleged assault that took place at 1:55 p.m. in Great Neck Plaza, according to detectives from the Nassau County Police Department.
The defendant, Fabian Lenis, 43, allegedly became enraged after being issued a parking ticket by the victim, a 70-year-old male code enforcement agent employed by the Village of Great Neck Plaza.
Lenis allegedly pushed the victim, causing him to fall backwards and strike his head of the curb. The victim was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released for injuries to his head, left hand, left knee and lower back.
During the alleged assault the victim’s electronic ticket writer was damaged.
Lenis was charged with two counts of assault in the second degree and criminal mischief in the second degree.
