A dispute that appeared to start outside one of downtown Montauk’s wine and liquor stores quickly escalated after the two men involved had entered the shop, with one of them soon under arrest by East Hampton Town Police on a felony charge of assault in the second degree.
Police said that Ralston George McLean, 58, of Montauk grabbed a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon off a shelf in the store and hurled it at the other man, striking him with it in the head. This was done, according to police, at close range, resulting in lacerations to the victim’s head that required medical attention.
Police relied, in part, on surveillance video to build a narrative of what happened Friday, leading to McLean’s arrest. None of the store’s merchandise, including the bottle of Cabernet police said was hurled by McLean, were damaged during the incident.
Assault in the second-degree is considered a violent felony, punishable by up seven years in state prison, and the prosecution is permitted in such cases to request that bail be set. Patrick Waters of the Suffolk County district attorney’s office asked the next morning during McClean‘s video arraignment that bail be set at $5,000, or that, at least, McClean be required to report to the probation department so his whereabouts could be tracked.
In addition, McClean, who is an American citizen, also holds a foreign passport, which East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky ordered be turned over to the court while the case is pending.
However, when it came to the question of bail, Melissa Aguanno, who represented McClean for the Saturday morning arraignment, pointed out that McClean has lived and worked in the community for many years and does not have a criminal record. Tekulsky agreed with that argument, and ordered that McLean be released without bail but also ordered the defendant to report to the probation department to be put on supervised release.
