State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat, was arrested early Friday and accused of slashing his companion in the face with a broken drinking glass during an argument in his Jackson Heights apartment, the authorities said. He then drove her to a hospital outside the city, officials said, where she required 20 stitches.
Mr. Monserrate, 41, who is in his final days as a city councilman, was charged with second-degree assault, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, the police said. If Mr. Monserrate is convicted, state law requires that he be expelled from the Senate.
At 4 p.m. on Friday, after nearly 12 hours at the 105th Precinct headquarters in Queens, Mr. Monserrate, wearing a dark baseball hat and striped track pants, was led out in handcuffs and put into a police car. His lawyer was James Cullen.
At Mr. Monserrate’s arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on Friday evening, the assistant district attorney, Scott Kessler, said that Mr. Monserrate told the police he was bringing his companion, Karla Giraldo, 30, a glass of water and leaned over and tripped, and the glass hit her. But the prosecutor said that Ms. Giraldo later said that the couple had a “loud and boisterous” argument about an item he found in her purse. He was holding a glass, which broke in his hand, she told officers.
“Then, in emotion, he stabbed her,” Mr. Kessler said.
He said Ms. Giraldo was now saying that it was an accident and that she did not want an order of protection. Mr. Kessler noted that that was common in domestic violence cases.
The police searched Mr. Monserrate’s apartment and found broken glass and blood on towels.
“Basically, your honor, this appears to be an accident,” Mr. Cullen said. He noted Mr. Monserrate’s family and supporters in the room, including his father, niece and nephew.
As is customary in these situations, the judge, Toko Serita, gave a full order of protection, which bars contact between Mr. Monserrate and Ms. Giraldo. She told Mr. Monserrate that he must stay completely away from her, by phone, e-mail or third-party contact, even if she reaches out to him.
“Do you understand?” Judge Serita asked him. He replied, “Yes.”
Bail was set at $5,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 16.
The authorities said Mr. Monserrate drove Ms. Giraldo to Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park in Nassau County, near the Queens border. It was unclear why he chose a hospital outside the city and 12 miles from his apartment, on 83rd Street in Jackson Heights. There are at least three hospitals closer, including Elmhurst Hospital Center, five blocks away.
The incident took place several hours after Mr. Monserrate, a former police officer who has sponsored at least half a dozen domestic-violence bills in the City Council, gave a departing speech on Thursday in the Council, where colleagues praised his years of service. That evening he attended a holiday party held by Queens Democrats.
He is scheduled to be sworn into the State Senate in January, where he is part of an incoming class that promised to give Democrats control of the chamber for the first time in decades. However, three newly elected Democrats have refused to align with the party, and his arrest further clouds the party’s hopes. Colleagues who attended Thursday night’s party said Mr. Monserrate arrived alone at about 7:45 p.m. He appeared to be in good spirits but not intoxicated, they said. The party, held at the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing, ended about 9 p.m.
At the hospital, officials said that when officers arrived, Ms. Giraldo said she did not want Mr. Monserrate arrested, but under state law, arrests are mandatory in domestic-violence cases.
It is unknown how long Mr. Monserrate and Ms. Giraldo have been romantically involved. In July, Ms. Giraldo gave a $20 campaign contribution to Julissa Ferreras, Mr. Monserrate’s chief of staff and a candidate for the Council seat he was vacating. Ms. Giraldo listed her occupation as student.
Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn called the allegations “deeply, deeply troubling.” She added, “Council member Monserrate, just like any individual in the city or anywhere else, is innocent until proven guilty, and I’m glad that the N.Y.P.D. is taking up these charges and is going to pursue them quickly and thoroughly.” Michael Nieves, a spokesman for Mr. Monserrate, declined to comment on the case.
Other colleagues said they were startled by the news.
“Yesterday was a happy day for Hiram and people were happy for him,” Councilman John C. Liu, a fellow Queens Democrat, said on Friday morning.
Mr. Monserrate — a former marine who served 12 years with the New York New YorkPolice Department — is less than two weeks away from resigning his seat on the City Council, where he has served since 2002, to join the Senate. He was the first Latino from Queens elected to the City Council.
His arrest caps a tumultuous year for Mr. Monserrate. In May, as the Council was in the midst of a slush-fund scandal, a law enforcement official said the authorities were investigating whether a Queens social service agency called Libre that was financed by Mr. Monserrate’s Council earmarks used that money to help Mr. Monserrate politically.
The investigation, by the Queens district attorney’s office and the city’s Department of Investigation, is looking into allegations that more than two dozen workers for the nonprofit agency collected signatures to help Mr. Monserrate get on the ballot in 2006 during his unsuccessful primary battle with Senator John D. Sabini for the incumbent’s State Senate seat. Mr. Monserrate, who has directed more than $2.7 million in earmarks to the group, has said that he was unaware of any investigation and knew nothing about any efforts by Libre to collect signatures for him.
In June, Gov. David A. Paterson announced that he would nominate Mr. Sabini to be chairman of the State Racing and Wagering Board, sparing the party another divisive primary. Uncontested in the primary, Mr. Monserrate sailed to election in November.
Mr. Monserrate’s legal troubles are only the latest complication for the imperiled Senate Democratic caucus, which is struggling to cobble together a majority before the new Legislature convenes in January. Although 32 Democrats were elected to Senate seats in November, three holdouts have refused to align themselves with the current party leadership, leaving open the possibility that the Republicans could retain the majority.
Malcolm A. Smith, the Senate Democratic leader, said little in a written statement.
“These are very serious charges that will be addressed by the proper authorities,” he said. “We will await the determination of these charges before we make any further comment.”
A spokesman for the Senate Republicans, John McArdle, declined to comment.
On Friday night, residents of Corona, one of the neighborhoods Mr. Monserrate represents, said they would stand by him.
At a holiday event for children at the Elmcor Community Center, Jose Castillo, 36, a livery-cab driver who distributed leaflets for Mr. Monserrate four years ago, said he was reluctant to believe the charges against him. “I think they’re making this thing up,” he said. “He helped the people a lot for eight years. He’s helped out the Hispanic people.”
Carlos Salazar, 37, a limousine driver, said he supported Mr. Monserrate because he fought to change a state law on insurance compensation for limo drivers. “He’s always open to hear what you have to say,” he said.
