The owner of a St. John restaurant closed by the Health Department Friday was formally charged Monday with assaulting a police officer and obstructing an officer in the line of duty. Todd Mann of Woody's Seafood Saloon appeared before Territorial Court Judge Soraya Diase for an advice-of-rights hearing following his arrest on Friday night.
Police Officer Jose Allen testified that he was instructed to shut down Woody's after Mann had improperly reopened the bar and restaurant following a Health Department inspection which turned up several infractions. Allen told Diase that when he went to the bar around 8 p.m. Friday, Mann told him that Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Andrew Rutnik, a St. John resident, had granted the go-ahead to reopen.
However, Allen said, upon investigating, he was told by the St. John police commander, Capt. Roberto Simmonds, to shut it down. Allen said when he returned to Woody's to close the establishment, Mann bumped him with his shoulder and pushed him out of the way.
Public Defender Brenda Scales argued that the government did not produce enough evidence for the court to find probable cause to charge the business owner. "There is not enough proof in the testimony of Officer Allen that Mr. Mann had any intent to injure the officer," she said.
Prosecutor John Wilks, an assistant attorney general, accused Mann of "a blatant case of forum shopping," saying he did not go to the agency that shut him down, but to the one he thought could help him reopen. Arguing for probable cause, Wilks said that Allen, seeking to discharge his official duties, had been set upon by someone "who had become angered, peeved and distraught at his violations being uncovered [and] took it out on the officer."
Diase rejected Scales' argument. Allowing Mann to remain free on $1,000 bail, she set a Feb. 17 arraignment date for Mann to enter a plea to the charges.
Woody's was one of five St. John food and drink establishments shut down by the government on Friday after inspections found health and safety violations. All were slated for reinspection Monday.
