Jan 12, 2012 10:12 AM

A local contractor has accused Southampton Town Councilman Jim Malone of locking him in Mr. Malone’s Suffolk County office and yelling at him during a confrontation over unpaid work at Mr. Malone’s Hampton Bays home.

Contractor Anthony Prosano, 23, of Hampton Bays said Mr. Malone locked him in the office and attempted to call police because Mr. Prosano broke into the councilman’s home to retrieve his tools.

Mr. Prosano, who also has a home in Mastic and business based out of East Quogue, claimed that Mr. Malone failed to pay him thousands of dollars for work he was contracted to do on Mr. Malone’s home in November. He confronted Mr. Malone at the Suffolk County Center in Riverside—Mr. Malone is also a deputy county clerk—on December 15, and he said he recorded on an iPhone the councilman, with a friend whom he declined to identify, ranting at him and using his county position to detain him there.

Copies of the recordings were provided to The Press. On the recording, a voice the contractor claims is Mr. Malone can be heard berating Mr. Prosano, calling him an “idiot.” Mr. Malone is heard calling the police, seeking to have Mr. Prosano charged with breaking into his home through a basement window.

Mr. Prosano admitted to breaking into Mr. Malone’s home through a window to get his tools after the councilman failed to meet him there days before the confrontation.

On the recording, Mr. Prosano claims Mr. Malone can’t hold him in the office. Mr. Malone replies, “Yes, I can. I’m deputy county clerk. I’m holding you.”

At one point, Mr. Malone says, “You are f-----g playing in a pool you don’t belong in.”

Although Mr. Malone continually asks Mr. Prosano to show him his contractor’s license, implying that he doesn’t have one, town officials said this week that the contractor was, in fact, licensed to work in Southampton Town.

Mr. Prosano filed a report with Southampton Town Police on December 15 after the confrontation and also filed a mechanic’s lien against Mr. Malone—which was what brought him to the Suffolk County Center in the first place. In the lien, Mr. Prosano claims Mr. Malone owed him about $8,000 for interior work, including insulation, drywall installation, painting, and work in the bathroom and kitchen.

When reached on Monday, Mr. Malone said the accusations against him were false and that he didn’t lock Mr. Prosano into his office. “It’s a patently false accusation,” he said. He declined to comment further on the matter.

According to Mr. Prosano, he and Mr. Malone signed a contract to perform about $52,000 of extensive interior renovations to Mr. Malone’s Anderson Street home in November. The home had been damaged in a fire. Currently, the repairs to the home are still ongoing, according to Mr. Malone.

“I put him on my high priority list because I knew who he was—he was a big name in Southampton Town,” Mr. Prosano said. “I wanted a job for myself.”

On Wednesday, Southampton Town Police Chief William Wilson Jr. said the police are investigating the case. “There’s been an accusation,” he said. “We have an obligation to investigate and review the matter. And that’s what we’re doing.”

In filing the mechanic’s lien, Mr. Prosano is seeking to prevent Mr. Malone from withdrawing money from a bank loan earmarked for the repairs to continue renovating the home until he is paid for the work he performed.

According to Mr. Malone, the mechanic’s lien is an “initial step” to litigation, which could be pursued by either party—by Mr. Prosano pursuing it or Mr. Malone seeking to have the lien removed. “I’m letting my lawyers decide,” Mr. Malone said when asked what he was going to do next.

Mr. Prosano said he was excited to take a job working for Mr. Malone because of what it could mean for his career as a young contractor. He said before taking the job, he had researched Mr. Malone and was heartened by a quote from him that speaks to standing up for the youth of Southampton Town.

“James Malone was definitely using his political power in the wrong way,” Mr. Prosano said. “If he’s going to abuse his political power for something like this, what is he going to do for the town?”