SOUTH BEACH — The owner of a Staten Island-based contractor was arrested after prosecutors said he operated a one-ton vehicle on the roof of the South Beach Houses.
Tommy Demoneris, 55, of Brooklyn, was charged with reckless endangerment on Friday for operating a Bobcat vehicle on the roof without getting an engineer's assessment to see if it could handle the weight, according to the Department of Investigation.
"The defendant created a substantial risk of serious physical injury to his coworkers and the residents of this NYCHA building when he recklessly operated a Bobcat vehicle on the roof during a construction project," Acting District Attorney Daniel Master Jr. said in a statement.
Demoneris, who owns the Stapleton company Telentos Construction, was using the Bobcat on top of the six-floor building to scrape materials from the rooftop, prosecutors said.
The company did not have a permit with the Department of Buildings to lift the Bobcat onto the roof and also didn't install a permanent guardrail to protect workers and prevent debris falling, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that Demoneris used the Bobcat to move materials faster to meet a deadline.
Demoneris was released without bail and is due back in court on Feb. 24, according to online court records.
If convicted of the charge, Demoneris faces up to a year in prison, prosecutors said.
Demoneris' lawyer could not be reached for comment.
