Judge adjourns Solages assault case until January

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A Nassau County justice on Monday adjourned Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages’ domestic abuse case until Jan. 11.

At the hearing, attorneys for Solages’s ex-girlfriend, Marie Angeline Vincent, who claims he assaulted her in June, said that they are ready to move forward with a trial. Solages’s attorney, however, Hempstead-based Fred Brewington, said he needed more time to discuss options with the District Attorney’s office. Justice Joy Watson adjourned the hearing until next month.

Brewington told Newsday that he would not rule out plea negotiations, but could not be reached by the Herald for comment before press time.

In June, Solages, who represents Nassau County’s 3rd Legislative District, was arrested at Vincent’s Valley Stream apartment. According to Nassau County police, he made “several verbal threats” against her, and then grabbed her by the left forearm and the neck when she started recording the altercation and called the police. Vincent’s 14-year-old daughter then tried to intervene, police said.

Solages pleaded not guilty to third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

According to published reports, in previous court appearances, Solages’s attorneys tried to drop the assault and child endangerment charges, citing a lack of medical records showing that Vincent was injured and that the daughter told authorities that she was not hurt in the altercation. Prosecutor Tara Coughlin said that Vincent’s claims sufficiently supported the assault charge.

Justice Watson had previously said that Solages would need a written agreement or Family Court order to visit his 3-year-old son, who he shares with Vincent. Vincent now has an order of protection against the legislator.

Vincent’s attorneys reportedly presented evidence in August that prior to the June incident, Solages told her he would never get in trouble “because he owns the police department and the courts.” Solages also allegedly told her he “has connections to the media” and “can change the newspaper articles.”

Hours later, Solages posted on his personal Facebook page that “the prosecution turned over no video evidence of anything illegal done by me. There is no video of me striking anyone because it didn’t happen.”

Solages overwhelmingly won re-election in November, garnering about 73 percent of the vote.