Jail sentence for assault in Huntington Town Hall
A judge recently gave an East Meadow man a six-month jail sentence for an assault last year in Huntington Town Hall that helped spur security changes. Credit: Chris Ware
An East Meadow man is serving a 6-month jail sentence for an assault in Huntington Town Hall last year, according to prosecutors and jail records.
Suffolk First District Court Judge Evan M. Zuckerman last week sentenced Vincent DiBenedetto, 45, for his conviction on third-degree assault, according to Suffolk County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Tania Lopez.
Huntington Public Safety Director Joe Cirigliano said in a recent interview he was the man DiBenedetto assaulted during the incident on March 22, 2023. It helped spur a change in security procedures at the municipal building.
DiBenedetto’s Central Islip-based attorney, Shawn Kassman, didn't immediately return a call for comment Thursday.
Lopez said the judge also issued a 5-year order of protection during the March 18 proceeding instructing DiBenedetto to stay away from the victim. A jury found DiBenedetto guilty in the case in December, according to prosecutors.
“It’s been a long, drawn out process but we’re pleased with the outcome,” Cirigliano also said in the interview.
Town officials said in the aftermath of the assault that a visitor, later identified by police as DiBenedetto, evaded movable barriers at the security desk at the building entrance and ignored a request from a security guard to stop.
The visitor then punched a man after town public safety responded to the area, Huntington officials said.
Cirigliano said recently that DiBenedetto punched him after refusing to stop recording with a cellphone inside the town clerk's office.
Six days later, a person showed up at town hall in a horror costume the day after a mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, that left six people dead.
Because of the two incidents, the town board in August approved a resolution to designate the town clerk’s office and town employees' private offices as nonpublic forums.
Now the public is barred from unauthorized entry into those spaces and prohibited from recording audio and video and taking photos in those areas.
An appointment isn't needed to go to the town clerk’s office, but visitors must show identification and sign in at the security desk.
