By Alex Christodoulides
Assi Touti, 37, of 108th Street in Forest Hills, allegedly drove his Chevrolet truck repeatedly into the portable computer control unit at the Mr. Hand Wash on Linden Boulevard in Elmont, L.I., Sunday at about noon, the Nassau DA said.Police and the car wash owner told the New York Post that after Touti complained that there was still dirt on his car after going through the car wash once, workers agreed to send him through again for free. Touti, however, lost his patience when he had to wait in line behind another car, the paper said.Touti then allegedly drove his truck several times into the $12,000 computer unit that controls various settings in the car wash, destroying it and pinning three employees between the control panel and a fence, according to the Nassau DA's office.Mr. Hand Wash could not be reached for comment.Nassau County Police arrested Touti at about 2:20 p.m. on charges of criminal mischief, a felony, for damaging the computer unit, and three counts of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, for trapping the car wash employees, who thought Touti was going to hit them with his truck, authorities said.The Forest Hills man works as a real estate agent at Tip Top Realty Corp. in Jamaica, but calls there for comment went unanswered.Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
