Charges have been dismissed against a New York City corrections captain who was arrested in 2023 after hitting a woman with his gun during an altercation in a White Plains parking lot.
White Plains City Judge Eric Press on Wednesday, May 21, granted a defense motion to dismiss assault and weapon charges against Tony Montague, 47, finding prosecutors had violated Montague’s right to a speedy trial.
“The wheels of justice grind slowly, but forward they grind,” Montague’s lawyer Richard Portale said. “Captain Montague was charged with violent felonies after being attacked by a husband and wife team of thugs, forcing Montague to defend himself. After a year and a half, he is finally vindicated.”
Montague was arrested Oct. 8, 2023, on felony charges of second-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following the altercation in the Waller-Maple parking lot.
Following an argument with a couple, all three left Hudson Grille, where they’d been watching football games during an Oktoberfest celebration. Montague walked out the back into the parking lot, and the man left onto Mamaroneck Avenue but circled back to the parking lot.
Video showed Montague getting sucker-punched by the man and then the two scuffling. The woman then started to intervene. Montague pulled out his gun and started to go after his attacker, but the man had run off behind some cars.
Montague then grabbed the woman by the hair and hit her with his gun.
The gun fell and he picked it up again to go after the woman, but an off-duty Yonkers cop drew his gun and directed Montague to put his down.
Montague complied, raised his hands and got down on the ground, where he showed his badge.
Video also showed Montague’s knee buckling and him wobbly for a moment during the confrontation. His lawyers contended this showed he had been so dazed by the original punch that he couldn’t have formed the mindset to commit any of the charged crimes.
The felony charges were dismissed in November 2024, but prosecutors went forward on misdemeanor charges. Prosecutors then repeatedly were not ready and had not provided all evidence in the case, leading Press to rule they had surpassed the 180-day window to bring a case to trial.
Montague’s lawyers have long questioned why police did not charge the man who punched him.
White Plains Police Chief Joseph Castelli said a year ago that the man was taken into custody but not charged after Montague did not cooperate that night.
Portale suggested they did not immediately need any assistance from Montague, by then a defendant, since they had ample video showing Montague being sucker punched.