By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — Two Dutchmen accused of assaulting police in a West Village bar fight that erupted over their $300 check insisted Monday they tried to pay the bill, but were told the tavern didn't take plastic.
Rob van der Hoek, 30, a Dutch embassy counselor in Washington, and his friend, Kristopher Rendon, 31, were arraigned Monday on assault, resisting arrest and other charges after the fight Sunday morning at Arthur's Tavern on Grove Street.
Prosecutors accuse the two men and the two companions they were drinking with at the old jazz haunt of chipping the tooth of one police officer and breaking the finger of another when the NYPD responded to a dispute over their check about 1:30 a.m.
But after posting bail Monday, the pair insisted to reporters outside the courthouse that they were not trying to dodge their bill, which was reportedly $300.
"You couldn't pay with a credit card," said Rendon.
The website of Arthur's, a 73-year-old jazz club, says "credit cards are not accepted" under the "directions" section.
"The cops are alleging to the DA that these individuals were refusing to pay, but that's not the case," the Dutchmen's lawyer Mark Cohen said.
Van der Hoek and Rendon also insist that the waitress at the bar got the first punch in, striking Van der Hoek's fiancee in the face.
They declined to elaborate on the details of the controversy, but they said they planned to fight the charges.
"I have no diplomatic immunity," said Van der hoek, who had several scrapes and bruises on his face. He said the rest of his body was worse.
"That's just our face you should see the rest of us," he said.
Rendon asked reporters at the courthouse to make sure photographs were published.
"I want to see this on page one," said Rendon.
Rendon's wife, Veeinga Lenneke, who also works at the embassy, was also charged in the fracas. She was released on bail Sunday night.
Another member of the group, Roose Kouwenhoven, was charged with disorderly conduct and released.
Van der hoek and Rendon were released after posting $1,500 bail each. Lenneke was also granted bail and released.
