Flanders man charged with assault after fight, cops say

A Flanders man was arrested and charged with assault and menacing after he struck a man with a section of PVC pipe during an altercation in a parking lot in Riverhead Friday, police said.

Riverhead Town police said the assault occurred in the First Street Parking, lot off West Main Street, at 2:40 a.m.

Arrested was Oto Paredes, 29, who was charged with second-degree assault and second-degree menacing.

He faces arraignment Friday in Riverhead Town Justice Court.

Police said that officers responding to a call reporting “a group of males” detaining a subject in the lot found Paredes being held — and the investigation determined Paredes had been involved in an altercation with a different group of males.

During that altercation, police said, Paredes armed himself with the PVC pipe and attacked a man identified as Todd Green, 37, of Wading River — a man who, police said, was not involved in the initial altercation. Green was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment.

Paredes was arrested.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”