Police

Cops: Riverhead man bit driver’s face in road rage incident

A Riverhead man is facing assault charges after allegedly pulling a man through a car window and biting him on the face during a road rage incident last week, police said.

Dean Morreale, 39, was arrested and charged with third-degree assault after the 2 p.m. incident last Wednesday on Route 58, according to a police report.

Cops said Mr. Morreale, who was driving a Volkswagen Passat at the time, began tailgating two people who were in a Mercury Marquis on Roanoke Avenue. He followed the pair into a CVS Pharmacy parking lot, where he cut them off, according to a police report. Mr. Morreale then allegedly pulled the passenger out of the car through a window and bit him on the right side of his face near the ear, causing him to bleed, a witness to the incident told police.

The driver and the passenger fought with Mr. Morreale, who also kicked a dent in the driver’s side door of the victims’ vehicle before fleeing the scene, police said.

The injured passenger was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment.

Police identified Mr. Morreale as the suspect after he called cops from his residence and said he was involved in an incident on Old Country Road. Police met Mr. Morreale at his home, where he allegedly told police he “assaulted that kid” and “pummelled him.”

He also said that he was the aggressor in the incident and was not provoked to fight, according to the report.

Mr. Morreale told police he thought he saw one of the alleged victims throw garbage out of the car window while on the road, which enraged him.

He was arrested, processed and arraigned at Town Justice Court, police said. He was released without bail.