Felony Charges Dismissed In Hamptons 'Road Rage' Case: Attorney

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Felony charges against Charles Harrison Streep, 31, involving a"road rage" incident in East Hampton in August were dismissed and reduced to misdemeanors by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Streep's attorneys confirmed Friday.

Streep was arrested at an East Hampton Village home on August 27 and and charged with second degree assault and second degree strangulation, police said. Those felony charges were dismissed and reduced to misdemeanors, attorneys for Streep said.

East Hampton Village Police said the incident took place at 11:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Chase Bank on Main Street. Police responded to reports of a possible fight and found David Peralta, 18, of Springs, who had sustained "serious head trauma" and needed emergency surgery, officials said. An investigation revealed that Streep had assaulted him, police said.

"In our view, today’s proceedings simply confirm what we have said all along — that Mr. Streep was innocent of both of the serious violent felony offenses with which he was charged," said Streep's attorneys Andrew J. Weinstein and Brian Desesa in a joint statement. "Mr. Streep is extremely grateful that both of the felony charges have now been dismissed. Mr. Streep is equally grateful that the District Attorney’s office rejected the misguided lobbying effort by Mr. Peralta’s counsel to have this case prosecuted as a hate crime. As with the original felony charges, we are confident that Mr. Streep will be fully vindicated of the reduced misdemeanor charges as well."

According to the East Hampton Star, Streep is the nephew of actress Meryl Streep.

Streep was initially arraigned by East Hampton Town Justice Steve Tekulsky and was released on $5,000 bail, police said. That bail was exonerated and Streep was released on his own recognizance Thursday.

Edmond C. Chakmakian, attorney for Peralta, discussed the dismissed felony charges: "This is not a setback by any means. We are vigorously prosecuting this case," he said.

As for the question of whether he would pursue the charge as a hate crime, Chakmakian said the case "doesn't really rise to the level of a hate crime. He wasn't a target because of his ethnicity."

Minerva Perez, executive director of Organización Latino-Americana, or OLA, said she reached out out to Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini to learn why charges were dropped from felony to misdemeanor and why the hate crime charge was not pursued.

“While there might be very clear legal reasons for not bringing this case to the grand jury, OLA would like to understand the processes that our community might expect to encounter if victimized," she said.

Chakmakian, however, said he wanted to make it clear that he had no idea why Perez was asking those questions and had asked his client to "step away" from Perez. "We have complete faith in the DA's office," he said.

Chakmakian also represents Peralta in a civil case in New York City, where Streep lives when not at his family's summer home in East Hampton. "We want compensation for his pain and suffering, for his medical bills, which are well over $100,000, and for future medical bills," he said. "We faces a long road of therapy, neurologic workup, MRIs — he faces a very uncertain future."

After the incident, which occurred when Streep reportedly failed to yield at a stop sign, Peralta suffered an epidural hematoma, Chakmakian said. Peralta is a "hardworking kid," with two jobs who was about to begin his sophomore year at John Jay when the incident took place, Chakmakian said. "Now he doesn't leave his house," has cognitive issues, is light sensitive and has severe headaches, Chakmakian said. "His brain injury was life-altering," he said. "He's got a long road and a very uncertain recovery ahead of him."

Of the incident, Chakmakian said he believed it was "an obscene display of privilege and anger on a beautiful summer day in East Hampton."

The community has come together to help Peralta: A GoFundMe page, "Help David," was organized by Kurt Wenzel of East Hampton.

According to Wenzel, Peralta worked as a server at Dopo La Spiaggia restaurant in East Hampton.

Streep's next court date is January 14.

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