Former NYC City Councilman and freshman state Senator Hiram Monserrate (SD-13) has been indicted on six counts stemming from a rather nasty incident last December involving his girlfriend.
New York state Sen. Hiram Monserrate was indicted Monday morning on a felony assault charge in Queens after allegedly attacking his girlfriend during an argument, CBS 2 has confirmed.
Monserrate, a former New York City councilman who was sworn into office as Senator in January despite the looming charge, will be arraigned later this week.
Monserrate was charged with assault and weapon possession after Karla Giraldo's face was slashed on Dec. 19 at his Queens home. Both Monserrate and Giraldo say the incident was an accident -- Monserrate told police that he tripped while holding a glass of water and that the glass accidentally hit her. The Queens district attorney's office said the case is pending.
But authorities say evidence, including surveillance videos, paints a more violent picture of a heated argument and a frightened, bleeding woman in distress. Investigators say Monserrate purposely smashed her face with broken glass in an apparent jealous rage.
The Queens County DA just put out a release which reads in part:
The grand jury charged Monserrate, 41, with three counts of second-degree assault, a Class D felony, and three counts of third-degree assault, a Class A misdemeanor.
According to the charges, during the early morning hours of December 19, 2008, Monserrate assaulted Karla Giraldo, 29. Ms. Giraldo was treated at a local Queens hospital, where she received stitches to the area surrounding her left eye.
Both Monserrate and his girlfriend have maintained since that night that it was an accident. The Queens DA apparently disagrees.
I'm sure this won't be the last we hear of this story.
UPDATE: Monserrate's spokesman just released a statement:
"I've said all along this was an accident. Karla has said all along this was an accident. The District Attorney's politically motivated decision to pursue this case doesn't change the fact that this was an accident." |
