Brawl at Publick House, Bouncer Dies

By Alison Caporimo

An altercation with a drunken partier at the Southampton Publick House in the early hours of Thursday morning resulted in the death of Andrew Reister, a bouncer for the restaurant/bar. Reister, a 40-year-old Hampton Bays native, was working his usual night shift at the Publick House on August 6 when Anthony Oddone began drawing attention. The incident reportedly began when Reister asked Oddone to stop dancing on a table. Oddone, of Farmingdale, attacked Reister, put him in a head-lock, according to witnesses, and choked him until he fell unconscious. Many patrons tried to stop the fight and even administer CPR to a suffocated Reister. When Southampton Village Police showed up, Reister was still unconscious. Southampton Village Police arrested Oddone, as he attempted to flee the scene in a taxi, at 1:15 a.m.

Oddone was charged with assault in the first degree, a felony, and was held on $500,000 bail. As for Reister, his wife and two children stayed at his bedside at Stony Brook Medical Center since early Thursday morning. Reister, who suffered severe brain damage from the altercation and was put on life support, died at 11:08 a.m. Saturday morning.

Having worked worked as a corrections officer in the sheriff's office since April 1994, Reister was a dedicated law enforcer and worker. He also helped inmates in the Rehabilitation Unit, where he assisted in their preparation to re-enter society after jail time.

Oddone is now charged with murder in the second degree, which commonly draws a sentence from 25 years to life in prison. He is currently being held at Rikers Island Correctional Facility.

The alleged murder is the first to occur in Southampton Village since 1988.

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