Cyclists Support Their Own

The case of Jason E. Monet, a Stamford, Conn., man charged with three felonies in connection with a collision on Napeague last June, took an unexpected turn Friday in a Central Islip courtroom.

Mr. Monet, according to East Hampton Town police, was drunk when his 2013 BMW swerved across Montauk Highway into the Ocean Vista resort, directly in front of an oncoming Yamaha motorcycle. The cycle’s operator, Sidney R. Hughes, formerly of Montauk, was severely injured in the resulting crash.

Forty of his fellow cyclists filled the courtroom of Acting State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho on Friday. They had been warned by Shaun McCready, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, that the D.A.’s office would allow Mr. Monet to plead guilty that day but receive no jail time, instead being sentenced to community service.

Jim Barr, president of their motorcycle club, Long Island Abate, which seeks to make drivers more attentive to vulnerable cyclists, said yesterday that he had written to the judge “requesting that he not accept the plea agreement. It was too lenient. It is not right Monet’s criminal actions ruined the life of an innocent man.” He sent a copy of his letter to the Suffolk County District Attorney.

Mr. Hughes, who has had five surgeries since the accident, is no longer able to work at his former job, installing car windows. Destitute, he has moved in with his mother in Binghamton, N.Y.

Mr. Barr, who believes that the prosecution may not have had enough evidence to warrant convictions on the felonies, which include a charge of assault, proposed in his letter that Mr. Monet be required to make a public service announcement, at his own expense, to air on local stations, admitting that criminal actions were responsible for the crash.

John Scott Prudente, chief of vehicular crimes in Suffolk County, contacted Mr. Barr and told him that his point about the lack of evidence was well taken. But Mr. Prudente agreed to ask Justice Camacho to delay the plea-bargain deal in order to consider Mr. Barr’s proposal, as well as other information that the D.A.’s office has since received.

Justice Camacho agreed to the request in the crowded courtroom, and set a new court date for April 17.

In the meantime, Mr. Barr’s organization is offering a $1,000 reward for anyone who witnessed the accident to come forward. It occurred near closing time at Cyril’s Fish House nearby, when people were walking on the highway to their parked cars. According to Mr. Barr, several guests at the Ocean Vista, where Mr. Monet was staying with his girlfriend, Kadria Sadik-Kahn, who was with him in the BMW, may also have witnessed the crash.