A Florida man is being held on $50,000 bail after slashing two police officers with a “Sawzall” blade in a Riverhead hotel lobby.
Both of the injured police officers were taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where they were treated and released, police said.
Police were called to the Hyatt Place hotel on East Main Street at 6:42 a.m. Saturday on the report of a man who was not a guest at the hotel refusing to leave the hotel lobby.
Responding officers found Robert Alan Vescio, 45, of Inglewood, Florida in the lobby and asked him to leave, according to a police press release issued Saturday night. Vescio threatened the officers, indicating he was “armed,” police said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a “Sawzall” — reciprocating saw — blade, police said, and cut two of the officers, according to the report.
Vescio was taken into custody and charged with two counts of second-degree assault, obstructing government administration and trespass, police said.
He was arraigned in Riverhead Justice Court and remanded to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 bail, police said.
Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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