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Celebrity Jeweler Turns Down Anger Management Plea Over Umbrella Beating

By Irene Plagianos | September 10, 2012 11:59am | Updated on September 10, 2012 12:47pm

MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT —  A West Village jewelry boutique owner accused of beating a man with an umbrella in a spat over a parking space refused to enter into an anger management program as part of a plea deal offered by prosecutors Monday.

Dawnelle Yager, the owner of Soixante Neuf Jewels which boasts celebrity clients including Kim Kardashian, turned down the no-jail plea agreement because “she was acting in self defense,” her lawyer Edward Kratt, told reporters after the brief court appearance.

Yager, 42, was charged with misdemeanor assault and a misdemeanor weapons charge for repeatedly smacking a man with an umbrella in May, leaving him with cuts on his hands, according to a criminal complaint.

Jager allegedly went berserk after Meng Dong, a spa worker, tried to back into the same parking space she was trying to get in front of 108 Christopher St.

According to court documents, Yager told police that Dong was the aggressor.

“He came to my car door and he started flailing his arms,” she told police. “I went to defend myself and that’s why I hit him with the umbrella.”

Kratt said his client was prepared to go to trial unless prosecutors came up with a better plea deal.

Yager declined to comment.

She is due back in court on Nov. 13.