Ulster County Legislator Chris Allen was arrested by state police today and charged with third-degree assault in connection with a Sept. 18 altercation in the parking area of a Tannersville swimming hole.
The victim,Ritamary Montano-Vining, a Greene County school teacher, says she was cleaning up the parking area with a fellow teacher and a group of students when Allen arrived in his vehicle. After she told him not park there because it would interfere with their clean-up, she said he became angry and, when she displayed her ID on a lanyard around her neck, he pulled on it hard enough to leave abrasions.
Allen says a verbal confrontation did take place but not a physical one. He said the injuries were self-inflicted and that the allegations were politically motivated.
Allen was arraigned in the Town of Hunter Court before Town Justice Simon and released on his own recognizance. Allen is to return Town of Hunter Court at a future date.
The New York State Police were assisted by the Greene County District Attorney’s Office.
Allen, a first-term Democrat who represents District 2, recently upset opponent Angie Minew by winning the Republican and Independence primaries in a write-in campaign.
District 2 includes the village, Barclay Heights and part of Malden.