Estranged wife of Alfonse D'Amato seeks charges against neighbors

The estranged wife of former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato has filed legal action against the Nassau District Attorney’s Office, demanding prosecutors charge two of her Lido Beach neighbors with filing a false police report against her.

Katuria D’Amato, who is embroiled in divorce proceedings and a child custody fight with the former senator, also says in the State Supreme Court filing that she believes he “is the subject of State and Federal investigations.”

Stephen Gassman, an attorney for Alfonse D’Amato, said Thursday that Katuria D’Amato’s accusations are “more of her attempts to malign” his client.

“We know of no such investigation,” he said of Katuria D’Amato’s claim about state and federal probes of Alfonse D’Amato.

Katuria D'Amato also alleges in the filing that her neighbors are “friendly” with Alfonse D'Amato, have security cameras pointed at her house and report to him on her daily activities. She also says one of the neighbors called not only Nassau police, but Alfonse D’Amato, to the scene of a June 25 dispute.

Thomas Liotti, Katuria D’Amato's attorney, released a statement Thursday saying she is suffering “ongoing harassment” due to Alfonse D’Amato’s effort to discredit her.

“I believe that he is the subject of State and Federal investigations now and is attempting to discredit me as a potential witness by making these false allegations,” her court petition says.

But Gassman said Alfonse D’Amato “had nothing to do with” Katuria D’Amato’s neighborhood dispute and “wasn’t even in the locale when it happened.”

Katuria D’Amato’s court petition is part of her July 30 filing that started an Article 78 proceeding against the district attorney’s office, a special legal proceeding that can be used to challenge actions of government agencies.

Through the filing, Katuria D’Amato is asking a State Supreme Court judge to direct District Attorney Madeline Singas to file misdemeanor charges against her Buxton Street neighbors, James and Catherine Cash.

The couple couldn’t be reached Thursday at a telephone listing for their home.

Documents show police on July 11 charged Katuria D’Amato with the non-criminal violation of second-degree harassment in the dispute involving her and James Cash.

The district attorney’s office declined to comment Thursday on Katuria D’Amato’s new legal filing, referring Newsday to the county attorney’s office before a Nassau spokesman said the county wouldn’t comment on pending litigation.

A spokesman for Singas said the office also declined to comment on the harassment case against Katuria D’Amato or whether prosecutors were involved in any separate investigation involving Alfonse D’Amato.

Katuria D’Amato’s arrest came after she filed a June 26 complaint with Singas’ office alleging Nassau police “harassed and threatened” her while acting “in cooperation” with D’Amato and the neighbors.

Police alleged in a sworn court document charging Katuria D’Amato with harassment that she berated James Cash and cursed at him as he walked past her house with his son, before chest-bumping him.

In contrast, Katuria D’Amato told prosecutors in her sworn statement that Cash told her son “how terrible” she was while walking past her house before they exchanged words.

She previously filed notices of claim against Nassau County and its police department, alleging police were colluding with the former senator against her. She also recently filed a $5 million claim against the Cashes.