New York Local News

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― Hiram Monserrate was sworn in as a new state senator Wednesday while authorities in New York City continued to investigate reports that he viciously attacked his girlfriend during an argument.

Monserrate, standing on the Senate floor, swore to uphold the federal and state constitutions and his office. He was surrounded by a dozen friends, relatives and staff, who applauded.

As he waited earlier in the Senate chamber, Monserrate said his girlfriend was not there; he didn't say why.

Told that some people thought he wouldn't show up, the Queens Democrat said, "I guess they were wrong. I'm here, and I'm here for the long haul."

"Of course my colleagues are treating me nice," he said.

Monserrate was charged with assault and weapon possession after Karla Giraldo's face was slashed on Dec. 19 at his Queens home. Both the former New York City councilman and Giraldo say the incident was an accident -- Monserrate told police that he tripped while holding a glass of water and that the glass accidentally hit her. The Queens district attorney's office said the case is pending.

But authorities say evidence, including surveillance videos, paints a more violent picture of a heated argument and a frightened, bleeding woman in distress. Investigators say Monserrate purposely smashed her face with broken glass in an apparent jealous rage.

The videos come from several cameras in the apartment building. The first shows the two arguing and Monserrate throwing a policeman's union card down a garbage chute, according to a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The two return into the apartment, and the video catches them sometime later, Giraldo's face covered with a bloody towel. The official said it's believed Monserrate smashed the glass over furniture before hitting her with it. Investigators Monday seized similar glasses from his home.

Monserrate is seen yanking Giraldo by the shoulder down the second-floor stairwell. Giraldo is crying, and pounding on a neighbor's door as he pulls her away, the official said. She drops the towel, which is later found on a stairwell. The two are then shown downstairs in a small vestibule, where Monserrate tries to pull Giraldo outside.

"She's holding on with two hands, like a kid who didn't want to leave his bike. She looks terrified," the official said.

Giraldo went to the emergency room; the gash over her eye required 25 stitches. Doctors contacted Queens police and reported a woman was assaulted, the official said. According to the police report, Giraldo initially said she was assaulted, then changed her account after learning officers planned to arrest him. She later filed a statement with the 105th Precinct saying she did not wish to press charges.

On Wednesday in Albany, Monserrate declined to discuss the allegations. Asked about the continued attention on whether he should be seated, he said, "That's politics."

Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said there was no legal reason to prevent Monserrate from being seated, and in the upcoming days "we will make some decisions about how we handle his actual role."

Brooklyn Republican Sen. Martin Golden, who earlier introduced a resolution to delay Monserrate's swearing in for a month until the issue is resolved, accepted Monserrate's handshake but turned away before the press could take their picture together.

Golden told The Associated Press that the Queens Democrat should have been kept out of the seat Wednesday, and that the pending criminal case involved "an absolutely horrendous assault on a woman."

"It definitely takes the institution down and we don't need that. ... This obviously takes us down a couple of notches," Golden said.

Monserrate, a council member since 2001, was elected to the Senate in November. If convicted of felony second-degree assault, he could face seven years in prison and the loss of his seat.

 

(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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