A Manhasset man who was arrested and charged in the “Flush the Johns” prostitution sting last year said he plans to sue Nassau County for what he considers his false arrest and false imprisonment.
Representatives for restaurateur Louis DiMaria, 39, filed a notice of claim dated March 6 against Nassau County, District Attorney Kathleen Rice and the Nassau County Police Department for his inclusion among the 104 men apprehended in the sting and malicious prosecution, according to Newsday.
In late December, the case against DiMaria was thrown out of court after prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to take the case to trial.
Efforts to reach DiMaria’s attorney, Salvatore Marinello of Garden City, were unavailing.
Marinello told Newsday his client and a friend were arrested on May 15 in Carle Place and charged with third-degree patronizing of a prostitute after stopping at a hotel to meet someone while on their way to a birthday celebration.
After DiMaria came out of a hotel bathroom, he was arrested by detectives who were using the room as part of the sting operation, Marinello told Newsday.
Marinello told Newsday his client did not pay or offer to pay for sex and that police did not have evidence to support their allegations.
“It’s the first case that was dismissed in this fashion. They admit they had a legal impediment. The legal impediment is they didn’t have a case,” Marinello told Newsday. “The district attorney’s office has to be held accountable for what it does.”
Marinello told Newsday DiMaria is currently in divorce proceedings.
“I’m not saying it caused the divorce,” Marinello said. “I think it certainly contributed to it.”
A DA spokesman referred Blank Slate Media to a statement the office provided Newsday: “Prosecutors conduct themselves with the highest priority on fairness for all involved, victims and defendants alike – in this example, they reviewed the evidence in this case and dismissed the charges as soon as their investigation was completed.”
Rice, a Democratic candidate to succeed Carolyn McCarthy in the House of Representatives, has been harshly criticized for releasing the identities and photographs of the alleged johns. According to the district attorney’s office, fewer than 40 suspected johns were arrested in the last 10 years.
DiMaria was a state champion wrestler at Herricks High School in the early 1990s and was a two-time All-American at Penn State. He co-owned the Willie Parkers bar and restaurant in Williston Park with his brother Rino until it closed in 2013.
