An assault at Galley Beach restaurant during the sunset hour on Father’s Day left an island real estate agent unconscious, bloodied, and needing an ambulance ride to Nantucket Cottage Hospital.
The attack left the victim with “permanent scarring” from a five-inch laceration on his head, according to a Nantucket Police Department report. A 58-year-old man was criminally charged in the attack and arraigned Monday on a single count of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury. The alleged assailant is a wealthy summer resident from Florida who owns a $4 million property near Cisco beach.
The police report states the defendant shoved the victim off his barstool, causing him to hit his head against a wall as he fell to the ground. An eyewitness said the commotion at the bar of the popular waterfront fine dining establishment caused a scene as diners were eating and snapping photos of the sunset.
The two men had been seated at opposite sides of the bar before the altercation occurred, the witness stated. After police and an ambulance arrived, the alleged attacker reportedly returned to the scene to taunt the victim. He was not arrested at Galley Beach, but rather summonsed to court for his arraignment yesterday. A pretrial hearing has been set for Sept. 1.
Asked why the alleged attacker was not arrested at the scene, police chief Bill Pittman said: “I don’t know the answer to that with absolute certainty. Perhaps they wanted to complete the investigation and interview the victim more thoroughly before they decided on filing charges. The victim went to the hospital so he wasn’t at the scene to be interviewed. Issuing a summons would be the preferred scenario in these situations.”
