Crime & Safety

Sloppy Tuna Bouncer Arrested on Strangulation Charge

Police say bouncer injured a man he was throwing out of the bar, but manager says there is more to the story.

Andreas E. Gemellas, 24, of Key West, Fla., a bouncer at the Sloppy Tuna in Montauk, was arrested and charged with a felony after he reportedly strangled a patron he was removing from the bar and restaurant on Sept. 1.

Police said they were called to the Sloppy Tuna for a victim of violence and found a 27-year-old man from Yonkers, who was missing a front tooth, and had cuts and scrapes on his forehead and nose. The alleged victim told them he had been escorted off the property by a bouncer.

Gemellas told police that the man had tried to cut the line and get into the bar. but was told he had to wait. The man slipped past him, and Gemellas later escorted him out. He told police he had no intention of hurting the man, police said in a report.

Montauk emergency medical services treated him and transported him to Southampton Hospital. Police asked him to go to headquarters when he was released to provide a statement. Police looked at security footage from the incident, and based on that and witness statement, they arrested Gemellas on Sept. 2 at about 4:20 a.m. He was charged with second-degree strangulation. He was released on $1,000 bail after arraignment.

Abby Monahan, a manager at Sloppy Tuna, said, "We have been commended for our security, our surveillance systems, and our top of the line ID scanner. We absolutely do not allow any person on the property on Saturday nights without getting their ID scanned," she said. "The truth will come out through further investigation that these people who signed sworn statements that they were on the property and went out 'to smoke a cigarette' never were on our property and ignored our policies and procedures and trespassed into our establishment."


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