Anthony Cumia Arrested Following Domestic Dispute

Cumia mug-shot

Anthony Cumia, best known for co-hosting “Opie and Anthony”, was released conditionally following his arraignment Sunday on strangulation and other charges after getting into an altercation with his 26-year-old girlfriend at his home.

Meanwhile a video has surfaced on YouTube documenting the argument between Cumia and Danielle Brand during which the woman — described by Cumia’s attorney in court as his client’s girlfriend — accuses the broadcaster of breaking one of her ribs. She used Periscope, which allows users to live stream, to record the incident.

Cumia, 54, was charged Saturday morning with strangulation, criminal mischief, unlawful imprisonment and assault and was arraigned Sunday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Newsday reports no bail was set and Cumia was released, although prosecutors had asked that he be held on $50,000 cash bail. The judge ordered Cumia to stay away from the victim.

Prosecutors told the court that “during an argument” in Cumia’s house, Cumia stomped on the woman’s hand and strangled her. She suffered a fractured rib, swollen arm and pain to the chest, prosecutors said.

Schwartz said Brand is Cumia’s girlfriend and that the dispute was the result of a dispute between the two. He said Brand lives in Cumia’s New York City apartment and that during the fight in Roslyn Heights they also both broke each other’s cellphones..



According to Newsday, court documents show that while Brand and Cumia were together about 4 a.m. they began arguing over a comment made earlier by Brand about a former “dating partner” of Cumia.

The argument escalated and Cumia “assaulted” Brand, according to the criminal complaint. It says the woman, “after she made several attempts to flee, made it outside the house, only to have the defendant carry her back in, and then pin her against the wall, and wrap his hands around her neck.”

In the Periscope video, which shows Cumia in the background laughing, Cumia calls the film, “The Anthony and Dani Show” after they scream back and forth at each other. It opens with Brand saying, “I’m on Long Island,” and then, “I got my hand broken. . . . I’m waiting for the police to come.”

Cumia has ended up in the middle of several dust-ups with his employers over the years. Since the summer of 2014, Cumia has been hosting the online paid subscription show, “The Anthony Cumia Show.”