http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=6313283
Dozens of uniformed officers gathered at a hospital Friday to lend support to the family of a colleague who was severely brain-damaged when he was choked during a fight in a Southampton bar where he worked as a bouncer.
Andrew Reister, a Riverhead jail officer, remained in critical condition at Stony Brook University Medical Center, surrounded by his wife, Stacey, his parents and his two brothers. Through a hospital spokesman, his wife asked for prayers.
Reister, 40, suffered cardiac arrest and severe brain damage after he was attacked by a bar patron he was trying to control, according to a felony complaint against Anthony Oddone, the Farmingville man police say Reister fought with.
"The situation is very grave, there is no question about that," said Vito Dagnello, president of the Suffolk County Correction Officers Association.
Reister was moonlighting as a bouncer at the Publick House, a brewery and restaurant on Bowden Square, early Thursday when Oddone, 25, climbed on a table, police said. Reister told him to get down and the two argued, and both men began wrestling on the floor.
Oddone got Reister in a choke and held him long after he passed out, police said.
At some point, Oddone fled, and Southampton Village police pulled over the cab he was in about a mile from the bar and arrested him. He is charged with first-degree assault and was being held on $500,000 cash bail. He is to appear in court Tuesday.
Instead of being held in the Riverhead jail where Reister has worked since 1994, Oddone was transferred to Rikers Island in Queens after his arraignment Thursday.
"It's just to avoid even the appearance of any impropriety," said Chief Michael Sharkey of the Suffolk Sheriff's Department. "It was better for everyone to have him in a different facility."
Self-defense experts say choke holds are particularly dangerous because they are easy to apply and quickly cut off blood to the brain. A properly applied choke "usually takes between five and 10 seconds to induce unconsciousness," said Greg Runfola, 31, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor from Huntington. "It doesn't take a lot of strength."
Christopher Dean, Reister's brother-in-law and a fellow correction officer, said Reister works in the jail library and is the head of an association that raises money for the families of correction officers in need.
Reister grew up in Southampton and lives in Calverton with his wife and two young children. An avid golfer, he enjoys taking his family to baseball and hockey games. "He's a good family man," Dean said.
Three other bouncers tried to help Reister, Dean said, and police said Oddone's four male companions also tried to pull him away. Witnesses told police that Reister was unconscious for a minute or more before he was released. "He wouldn't let go," Dean said of Oddone.
There was no answer at Oddone's home Friday, where a neighbor said he lives with his girlfriend and her parents and often practices his golf swing in the yard. "He seemed to be a really nice guy," said Frank Giordano, 19.
Oddone plays on the golf team at St. Joseph's College in Patchogue, athletic director Don Lizak said.
Several messages left for Oddone's attorney, Glenn Obedin, of Central Islip, were not returned.
About 75 percent of the correction officers union's 830 members hold second jobs, Dagnello said. Each officer must get written permission from the correction department, which does not set a limit on hours or the type of job. "It's a quality-of-life issue. Officers are trying to provide for their families," he said.
Citing advice from a union attorney, Dagnello declined to discuss specifics of Reister's employment. The association has set up a fund to benefit his family.
Originally Posted by David Jamieson
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