The son of a former Israeli cabinet official appeared in court following his controversial release on a $25,000 bond while on attempted murder charges.
Jounathan Maimon, 24, appeared stone-faced during a court hearing Friday, days after his alleged victim, Maor Vanunu, 42, slammed his release from custody as ‘a joke’.
The attack
Vanunu, a Manhattan restaurant owner, was left with a brain bleed and lacerations when he was randomly attacked in February.
Prosecutors claim Maimom repeatedly hit him over the head with a 1.75 liter glass jug.
Maimon says he was drugged and does not remember the alleged assault, but Vanunu noted his father’s ‘well-connected’ status as he feels the judge who recently freed the 24-year-old has ‘helped (the suspect) out a lot.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com on Tuesday, he said a phone conversation he had with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office two weeks ago left him feeling ‘like he is getting ready for a deal.’
The attack on February 26 was seen in shocking surveillance footage, beginning with Vanunu standing at an intersection waiting for a traffic light in the Soho district of New York City.
Maimon had reportedly spent the evening at Gospel nightclub, but was kicked out when he got into an argument with a woman.
Vanunu claims Maimon then returned with the jug, and he said the Israeli was ‘trying to get back to the woman’ when he and his friends left the club after 3am.
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While waiting by an intersection, Vanunu was struck in the back of the head with a vicious, random blow, which sent him sprawling to the floor.
The attacker continued the brutal assault as he hit Vanunu twice more over the head and four more times between the shoulders as the restauranteur lay motionless.
Vanunu was able to flee the scene, but only when the relentless beating stopped after the glass jug shattered.
CCTV
A shirtless Maimon was also seen in footage released by police strolling down the street on the night of the incident swinging a large glass bottle.
He is also accused of using the same jug to smash the window of a passing Uber moments before Vanunu was struck. Vanunu says the attack has left him with ongoing memory and hearing loss months later.
Despite the brutal nature of the crime he is accused of, the judge in his case sparked fury after setting bail at just $25,000.
The bail out
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com Tuesday, Vanunu claimed the New York City judge overseeing the criminal case ‘helped [the suspect] out a lot.’
He noted Maimon’s father, Israel Maimon, Israel’s former cabinet secretary and the former head of Israel Bonds, is ‘well-connected’ and Maimon was able to hire ‘really high-quality lawyers.’
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Vanunu said he is convinced officials have lost interest in pursuing his case, and says a call with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office two weeks ago ‘felt like he’s getting ready for a deal.’
He suggested woke District Attorney Alvin Bragg wants to ‘close the case as soon as possible; he doesn’t care about the case anymore.’
However, Maimon’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, told DailyMail.com that his client has never received any preferential treatment and said his high-up family are irrelevant to the case.
‘It’s ludicrous to suggest that his family has had any involvement in this,’ Lichtman said. ‘It is offensive to the family and it is offensive to the defense.’
Lichtman also previously stated that he is working to have Maimon’s attempted murder charges downgraded to aggravated assault, telling the New York Post: ‘There was never any attempt to murder anyone here.’
