By John Asbury and Maureen Mullarkey
Updated November 19, 2025 7:23 pm
A Huntington man was charged with assault after police said he bit and slashed another man with a box cutter in a road rage incident on Tuesday.
Around 3:42 p.m., the driver of a northbound Jeep Cherokee on West Neck Road near Old Hickory Lane in Huntington attempted to pass a 2017 Mercedes Sprinter van on the left, Suffolk police said.
The driver of the Jeep, Jayson Heitner, 26, then struck the Mercedes as he tried to get back into the lane, police said.
After the cars pulled over, Heitner approached the 60-year-old driver of the Mercedes with a box cutter, leading to a physical altercation, police said. The man, who is not being identified, suffered multiple lacerations to his face and body from the blade as well as bite wounds to multiple fingers, police said.
Police said Heitner did not know the man, according to court records. He was taken to the hospital where he required multiple stitches after the attack.
Heitner was arrested and charged with second-degree assault.
He pleaded not guilty Wednesday in First District Court in Central Islip, where a judge issued an order of protection and set bail at $75,000 cash or $150,000 bond. He was ordered to return to court Monday for his next hearing.
Heitner’s Central Islip-based attorney, Chase Brown, said Heitner was acting in self-defense and that the other driver acknowledged to police he had been armed with a knife. Brown said the alleged victim’s van had cut Heitner off when he pulled over and his client’s Jeep was hit by the van, and Heitner defended himself when he became aware the other driver had a knife.
“There is a clear self-defense case here and we look forward to fighting this in court,” Brown said.
