NYC corrections captain charged with assault after alleged incident in White Plains
A New York City corrections captain was arrested in White Plains after allegedly pistol-whipping a woman in a parking lot behind Mamaroneck Avenue restaurants and bars following an Oktoberfest celebration, an attack that was broken up by off-duty cops from Yonkers and Westchester County.
Tony Montague, 45, of White Plains, was taken into custody shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday in the Waller-Maple parking lot. According to city police, two off-duty cops who observed the altercation drew their own guns and ordered Montague to drop his, although video shows he already had when the second cop approached.
The cellphone video seen by The Journal News/lohud begins with a crowd already gathered in the parking lot. Montague then gets sucker-punched from behind by another man. As they scuffle, Montague is punched numerous times and tears the man's shirt.
The woman then tries to intervene. Montague pulls a gun and seemingly starts to pursue his attacker. But that man had run behind some cars and Montague instead hits the woman twice in the head with the gun as he holds her hair.
He dropped the gun at one point and when he picked it up and started after the woman again, the off-duty Yonkers cop approaches with his gun drawn. Montague sees that, drops his gun, raises his hands and after a few seconds gets down on the ground, one hand still raised the other on the ground.
The second off-duty cop then enters the picture with his gun drawn as well and a third man secures Montague's gun.
The Yonkers cop puts his gun in his waistband as Montague seems to be telling him that he's a cop. The Yonkers cop puts his hand on his gun prepared to draw it again but does not as Montague removes what appears to be a badge from his pocket. He lays it on the ground and the officer picks it up to check it.
Montague was arraigned Tuesday in White Plains City Court on charges of second-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies.
According to the criminal complaint, Montague took a loaded Glock 19 handgun from his waistband and hit the 34-year-old woman in the face and head. She sustained a concussion and complained of pain in her shoulder. The gun was licensed, according to police, but Montague is accused of using it unlawfully in the assault.
A spokeswoman for the NYC Department of Corrections said Montague, a 19-year veteran, has been suspended without pay for the next four weeks.
Montague was released on bail and is due back in city court on Nov. 6. His lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
Police said they were still investigating what led up to the incident and asked that anyone with information or cellphone videos contact Detective Steven Silfa at ssilfa@whiteplainsny.gov or call 914-422-6200.
The Yonkers PBA president, Det. Keith Olson, said his colleague showed "incredible bravery and restraint."
"Things could've easily gone horribly wrong but they didn't because of the actions of our off-duty officer," he said in a text.
Neither he nor Yonkers police spokesman Sgt. Frank DiDomizio would identify the officer, who joined the department in early 2020 and has also served seven years as an Army National Guardsman.
"As mandated by Department policy with all uses of force, we are conducting a routine review of the actions taken by our Officer and can preliminarily determine that the actions taken to stop this potentially deadly assault were appropriate, authorized, and within department policy," DiDomizio said in an email.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: White Plains pistol whipping leads to assault charge
