It turns out that four of the five men arrested in last Friday night’s melee outside the Kettle Black bar in Bay Ridge are related to state Sen. Marty Golden — including the powerhouse pol’s nephew and three cousins.
Sen. Golden has remained in seclusion after the weekend brawl at the Third Avenue bar, where his nephew, Daniel Golden; and his cousins, Kevin Crowley, 23, Michael Crowley, 20, and John DeCarlo, 23, were collared.
A fifth man, Peter Jung, 23, was also arrested but apparently is not related to the state senator, who is a former NYPD cop.
While Golden won’t comment, the lawyer for the five arrested men was happy to spin the situation as overaggressive policing, saying his clients were merely defending themselves.
When the full story comes out, said attorney Arthur Aidala, there will “be more arrests.”
It’s not entirely clear what happened in the wee hours of April 16, but police are sticking with their version of the incident: A frenzied fracas erupted at 2:40 am when DeCarlo allegedly punched an off-duty cop inside the corner bar, and off-duty firefighter Rosario Cicero and off-duty Port Authority Police Officer Ryan McCarthy jumped to the officer’s aide, as Daniel Golden backed his pal, DeCarlo.
That’s when the bouncers threw out everyone. At this point, McCarthy tried to jot down one suspect’s license plate number, officials said, but DeCarlo, himself the son of an NYPD detective, slugged him, even though he had his police shield out, cops said.
“I don’t give a f—k,” DeCarlo allegedly said as he and Golden pounded on Ryan, leaving him with a broken jaw, police said.
Cicero had his arm slashed open as he tried to defend McCarthy, who at the time was being swarmed by upwards of 10 people, according to witnesses.
When cops arrived, DeCarlo, Golden, the brothers Crowley, and Jung were taken into custody.
DeCarlo and Golden were arrested for assault, while Jung and Kevin Crowley were charged with menacing.
Michael Crowley was charged with criminal possession of a weapon after witnesses allegedly saw him wielding a gravity knife. It remained unclear, however, if he slashed Cicero. Two knives were reportedly found at the scene, police said.
All five suspects were released on their own recognizance on Sunday. Prosecutors said a grand jury has been empaneled to hear the assault case against DeCarlo and Golden. If convicted, each could face up to seven years in prison.
A source said that a “special prosecutor” from another county may be brought in to handle the case because of Sen. Golden political power.
In the meantime, the suspects’ lawyer is calling for a deeper investigation to reveal what or who lit the fuse that caused the initial flare-up inside the bar. Kevin Crowley said that someone hit him on the head with a bottle, Aidala explained, and when the bar staff threw everyone outside, the chance to ID that assailant was lost.
“[They] did an excellent job in stopping that first fight,” Aidala said. “Had [the off-duty] police officers and firefighters obeyed their direction, none of their injuries would have occurred.
“We need to know who started all this … who struck one of my clients with a bottle, opening up his head,” added Aidala.
