11 charged in NUMC emergency-room melee

Eleven people were arrested early Saturday after police said they tried to visit a wounded attempted-murder suspect in the Nassau University Medical Center emergency room, then formed an angry mob when they were turned away.

Nassau County police were called when a large group of people tried to force their way into the East Meadow hospital shortly after midnight, acting aggressively toward hospital staff. Police and hospital staff members repeatedly asked the group to leave, but they refused and threatened officers, police said.

Police said the group was trying to visit Rudy Montour, who had been taken to the emergency room after he was shot by officers earlier in the evening.

Montour, 23, of 74 Florence Ave., Hempstead, was shot in the arm when police said he drew a gun on them after they chased him. Montour was later charged with second-degree attempted murder, police said.

Officers from several precincts were needed to calm the disturbance, police said.

One man arrested at the hospital, Kadeen McDonald, 21, of 219 Kennedy Ave., Hempstead, refused to be handcuffed and struck a police officer, fracturing the officer's hand, police said. The officer, who was not identified, was treated and released.

Also arrested were Timothy Fenner, 21, of Uniondale; Genevieve Mamouzette, 22, of Hempstead; Jason Fraser, 20, of Freeport; Derick Hernandez, 20, of Roosevelt; Andre Warsop, 23, of Hempstead; Marcus Spooner, 21, and Jeremy Pryor, 20, both of Hempstead; Terrance Pinkard, 21, of Far Rockaway; Gary Mosley, 19, of Roosevelt, and Celena Lewis, 24, of Jamaica, Queens.

They were charged with various crimes, including rioting, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.

The events leading up to the melee began Friday, when police said plainclothes officers saw Montour and Travis Hargrove, 39, of 116 E. Fulton Ave., Roosevelt, in a 1999 Ford pickup on Union Street in Freeport. Officers saw Hargrove fire a handgun into a home, police said. No one was hurt, they said.

Police said they chased the pickup until it hit a parked car and Hargrove ran away.

Montour got out and pointed the handgun at the officers, who shot him, police said. Montour was taken to NUMC and Hargrove was arrested a short time later, police said.

Hargrove was also charged with second-degree attempted murder. Both men were charged with criminal use of a firearm, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment. Montour was also charged with menacing a police officer.