#SI ‘Autonomous Zone’ bar owner released from custody

The co-owner of Staten Island’s rogue “Autonomous Zone” bar was freed from custody Sunday — despite being hit with 10 charges for allegedly driving into a sheriff’s sergeant trying to arrest him for illegally staying open.

Danny Presti, co-owner of Mac’s Public House, was arrested just after midnight Sunday for allegedly driving a new turquoise Jeep into 30-year-old New York City Sheriff sergeant Kenneth Matos — breaking his legs and leaving him clinging to the hood for around 300 feet before being stopped by a sheriff’s car.

The bar owner plowed into the officer “intentionally and with depraved indifference to human life,” his charge sheet shows — leaving the officer in “substantial pain” and in “fear for his physical safety.”

The 43-year-old did so to escape being busted for again serving customers at the Grant City bar in defiance of COVID-19 orders — fleeing after the officers shouted “Presti!” to stop him, the documents say.

Presti — who had been arrested earlier in the week for keeping his bar open — was hit with 10 charges Sunday, including third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury, menacing, reckless driving, resisting arrest and unlawfully fleeing a police officer.

He was arraigned from inside Staten Island’s 122nd Precinct and released on his own recognizance despite the slew of serious charges.

It was unclear why he was released — as the assault rap is bail-eligible. The Staten Island DA’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

A charging document alleges that the bar owner “drove with Sgt. Matos on the hood of his motor vehicle down South Railroad Avenue, turned left onto Lincoln Avenue, and made another left onto North Railroad before being stopped by a sheriff’s motor vehicle.”

The officer suffered fractured bones, including both tibias, sources told The Post.

Mac’s bar has become a center point for recent protests against government-ordered lockdowns, repeatedly serving customers in rebellion against orders not to do so.

Mac’s remained defiant Sunday — accusing the officers of hiding “like snakes in the grass” to yet again bust its outspoken co-owner.

“We will not back down! You have not scared us!! The world is watching and it’s time for everyone to wake up!” the bar wrote in a since-deleted Facebook update early Sunday.