Featured Story

Cops: Florida man arrested for cutting two cops with sawzall blade

Unknown-2

A Florida man was arrested early Saturday morning at Hyatt Place East End after he cut two police officers with a reciprocating saw blade and refused to leave the hotel’s lobby, Riverhead Town police said.

According to a police news release, authorities were called to the hotel on East Main Street at 6:42 a.m. when 45-year-old Robert Alan Vescio of Englewood, Fla., who was not a guest at the hotel, refused to leave the premises.

While authorities spoke with Mr. Vescio, he allegedly reached into a backpack and threatened them, “indicating that he was armed,” according to the release. When police attempted to arrest Mr. Vescio, he reportedly pulled a sawzall blade out of his backpack and cut two of the officers.

After a struggle, Mr. Vescio was taken into custody, police said. The injured officers were taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where they were treated and released.

Mr. Viscio was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, obstructing governmental administration and trespassing. He was arraigned and taken to Suffolk County jail on $50,000 bail, police said.