Developer Warren Diamond was arrested at Suneagles Golf Club in Eatontown last Wednesday and charged with third-degree aggravated assault, accused of attempting to cause significant bodily injury during an altercation at the course. Eatontown police have not named the alleged victim, but attorneys for Diamond's longtime business partner, Salvatore Martelli, have confirmed it was him.
According to Red Bank Green, Eatontown police said the charge stemmed from an altercation at the golf club but declined to release further details, citing an ongoing investigation. Martelli's attorney, Layne Feldman, confirmed that Martelli was the one allegedly assaulted, and said Martelli remained committed to keeping Suneagles safe and welcoming.
In a court letter filed Monday, Martelli's attorneys alleged that Diamond struck Martelli in the back of the head, causing injuries that required hospital treatment. The attorneys asked for an immediate hearing to address both the arrest and other ongoing disputes between the two men. Diamond, reached for comment, offered a brief response: “THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT IN COURT.”
A Partnership Turned Legal War
Diamond and Martelli co-own several companies that acquired and redeveloped Suneagles Golf Club, part of the former Fort Monmouth property, and the two are now locked in a broader legal battle over the finances and management of their joint enterprise. The Suneagles golf course and its adjacent townhouse development marked the first major redevelopment project to take shape on the former Fort Monmouth site. The two men are engaged in ongoing state and federal lawsuits in which each accuses the other of financial misconduct and other wrongdoing tied to the project, the outlet reports.
That legal war has grown ugly before. In a court filing from May 2025, Martelli alleged that Diamond drove a golf cart at him and struck him at Suneagles, causing a concussion. Diamond denied the allegation, and his attorney wrote in a filing that video of the incident clearly showed otherwise, the same report notes. Attorneys Alexis Gasiorowski and Ronald Gasiorowski wrote in a filing that the litigation had not only gone off the rails but had spiraled out of control to the point that it had become frightfully dangerous. Alexis Gasiorowski declined further comment when reached, and Diamond's attorney, Skylar Weissman, did not return a phone message left Monday.
A Developer With a Complicated Past
Diamond has been active in Red Bank real estate for several years, and his history includes a federal conviction. In 1986, under his former name, Warren Weissman, Diamond was convicted of racketeering in a federal case, per the same account.
His development résumé includes a disputed timeline on a Bridge Avenue project. One report states Diamond received Red Bank Planning Board approval in July 2024 to build 20 condominiums, while an earlier report placed that approval in 2023. Diamond later sold the tract and its development approvals for $4.3 million in 2025 to Honey Meerzon; that project, Dua Bella Residences, is now under construction.
Diamond has also been tied to other local real estate disputes, including litigation with his own son over ownership interests in a property at 147 Broad Street in Red Bank, and he owns land at the corner of Drs. James Parker Boulevard and Shrewsbury Avenue. Separately, the American Opportunity Zone Fund acquired five properties near the Red Bank train station, including the former Mi Lupita's restaurant and homes on Oakland Street, and sued to compel a sale after a deal collapsed over a closing deadline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mary and Roy Jennings countersued, and the litigation was later settled, with Diamond acquiring the property in 2022.
Philanthropy Alongside the Legal Fights
Diamond and his wife, Faith Perlmutter Diamond, have also been major donors to the Count Basie Center for the Arts, which opened a members-only VIP lounge named the Diamond Lounge in 2024. Diamond also donated $2.5 million to Monmouth Medical Center for the Cheryl Diamond Cancer Care Center, named for his late wife, Cheryl Diamond, who died of cancer in 2001. Diamond lists an address in Boca Raton, Florida, and was a longtime resident of Rumson.
Martelli, meanwhile, owns Martelli Signature Homes and Monarch Excavation, the latter of which was hired for the Borough of Red Bank's Marine Park redevelopment. The dueling business empires, and the legal fights now entangling them, have made the Suneagles partnership one of the more contentious development stories in the Red Bank area. Broader coverage of the state's development and legal landscape, including the dispute, has also drawn attention from outlets like POLITICO, which noted that each side accuses the other of financial misconduct and other wrongdoing related to the project.
No court date or further details on the criminal case against Diamond had been made public at the time of the report.
