Tabber takes aim (Getty Images)

Updated after the jump

Last week, The New York Post came out with an incendiary item about the high-flying socialite (and New York Observer Gatsbaby) Tabber Benedict, who had allegedly thrown himself a "going-away" party at Number 8 on the night before he was actually due to be sentenced in court for his 2011 DUI.

But according to the gossip site Scallywag & Vagabond, the attack might have been more personal than just a good tip from Justin Ross Lee...and that the Post's author, Tara Palmeri, had it out for Mr. Benedict for another reason.

From S&V:

According to Benedict, he first met Palmeri when she was seated in his chair at Blue Horizon’s June 2012 Charity Gala. Benedict, who was a committee member for the charity, asked Palmeri to kindly get out of his seat, as cocktail hour concluded and dinner was about to be served – unaware that this request sent Palmeri running out of the gala, distraught and embarrassed.

It seems Palmeri had crashed the benefit (?) and sat in an empty chair, not realizing it was assigned to Benedict. Justin Ross Lee, a friend to both Benedict and Palmeri, later told Benedict that he had upset Palmeri. (Interestingly, Lee is the only person other than the victim who is quoted in Palmeri’s NY Post article. Is he the anonymous source mouthing off that Benedict was off to Europe for a long holiday? )

The sourcing for this pro-Benedict story is obviously the jailed attorney himself, who even gave up an old email where he apologized to Palmeri for taking his seat. (Which in itself smacks of incestuous obligations: Why else would a socialite bother with a long apology to a New York Post writer, if the writer was obviously in the wrong?)

Mr. Lee, who has never met a publication he wouldn't like to give a quote to, is accused of colluding with Ms. Palmeri for her hit piece on Benedict. He openly admitted his intentions on bringing his former friend down to Scalleywag:

Anonymous: “Did you quote that to the Post?”

Justin: “Did he tip them off last year to my Chapter 7 filing… He was a snake to me. You bet your ass that’s my quote.”

Anonymous: “I didn’t know that.”

Justin: “Nor did I until about 3 weeks ago. What he did was unspeakable. The ultimate betrayal after I confided in him. He should thank me for being so kind when they asked for my comment.”

Anonymous: “How did you know he said it? The Post told you? It’s public record when you file.”

Justin: “I’m well aware it’s public…a little birdy told me.”

Benedict also insinuated that Lee wasn't even at the party, by letting it slip that he had black-listed his former buddy from the door list. But even if Benedict could prove that Palmeri and Lee worked together to besmirch his good name, there's still the tiny matter of the story itself--where Benedict held a party on the night before he went to court--being true. Of course, Benedict/Scallywag claim that the anonymous quotes from the Post article are all fake or were made up by Lee, and point to the fact that Palmeri messed up the name of the nightclub and called in Bungalow 8 instead of Number 8 to prove that the party in question never existed. (Which, to be fair, we've also confused several times.) The party in question, according to Mr. Benedict, was a benefit his friend had previously asked him to lend his good name for.

What are we to take away from this story? Well, not much, except that Benedict must have a pretty nice setup at Suffolk County Correctional Facility...one with a pretty incredible WiFi situation and a lot of free time to peruse old emails about seating arrangements.

Update: Justin Ross Lee responded to The Observer regarding the Scallywag post, saying, "A blogger’s a journalist like Tabber’s a motorist. Those quotes were blogged by a disgruntled felon blogging longhand from a felon from a jail cell to clear whatever’s left of his tarnished name."

"Tabber’s action reflect poorly on the pride of the few remaining Gatsbabies," Mr. Lee said. "He should stop worrying about playing publicist and start reflecting on why he’s in prison."

Tabber Benedict (photo courtesy of Patrick McMullan)

As November ended, Tabber Benedict, a "Gatsbaby" featured in a June, 2012 report in The Observer, pleaded guilty in a Suffolk County court to ten charges related to a drunk-driving incident on July 4, 2011. According to a report in Newsday, Mr. Benedict, a 35-year-old corporate attorney, will lose his law license and will serve time in jail.

Suffolk County D.A. Thomas Spota issued a statement about Mr. Benedict's plea that called the penalties "completely proportional" to the crime.

Mr. Benedict was driving his black 2011 GMC Acadia on Montauk Highway around 8 a.m. that July 4 when he struck Steve Dorn, age 44. Mr. Dorn, a lifeguard and teacher, was taken to a nearby medical facility in critical condition at the time.

Some of the charges that could send Mr. Benedict to prison for a maximum of ten years include aggravated vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident.

Mr. Benedict will be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2013.

Julien Chabbott, the co-founder of the now-defunct smartphone app Line Snob, was arrested and charged with felony assault after he allegedly drove over Police Officer Felix Recio's foot early Saturday evening.

"He had a concussion and some other injuries," said Mr. Heller, who claimed Mr. Chabbott had to be taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment after his arrest.

A person close to the investigation told The Observer that this was the first they had heard about Mr. Chabbott's injuries. (UPDATE 3:04pm): That person added that the defense attorney did mention the concussion during the arraignment).

Video of the confrontation, which has become a viral hit, details the unfortunate (and once again, alleged) meeting between an über-expensive Italian sports car and a municipal employee's foot.

Mr. Chabbott had been inside the Mercer Hotel Saturday with reality TV girlfriend Stephanie Pratt when he objected to Officer Recio writing him a summons for parking in a no-standing zone, not having a registration sticker and not having an inspection sticker on his Ferrari 458, cops and prosecutors said.

Mr. Chabbott then allegedly disregarded Officer Recio's orders to stay out of the Ferrari, got in the driver's seat and moved the car over the cop's foot, cops and prosecutors claim. Officer Recio and his partner then pulled Chabbott out of the car and tossed him to the street, an altercation that may have injured the 28-year-old entrepreneur, his attorney said.

Mr. Chabbott was released on $1,000 bail Sunday after he pleaded not guilty to second-degree felony assault, which carries a seven-year jail sentence, and obstructing governmental administration.

Mr. Heller, who is also the attorney for "Gatsbaby" (and accused drunk driver) Tabber Benedict, told The Observer that Mr. Chabbott did not run over Officer Recio's foot. To have done so is "rather incredulous, considering the cost of a parking ticket could never justify the motivation to run over a policeman's foot," he added.

As for the video shot by bystander Damian Mory, Mr. Heller believes it highlights Officer Recio and partner's "extremely inappropriate course of conduct."

"This may lead to an investigation of the conduct of the police officers, and I don't think any law-abiding citizen who viewed that tape would be happy to see how New York's Finest conducted themselves," said Mr. Heller.

He would not confirm if the Ferrari was registered in Mr. Chabbott's name. Neither the NYPD nor the Manhattan District Attorney's office could confirm to whom the Ferrari was registered.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chabbott believes that Officer Recio is faking his injury and was issuing a ticket just to meet a ticket quota, according to TMZ. If true, it may be the first instance in which an illegally-parked Ferrari in SoHo was involved in last year's NYPD Bronx-ticket fixing scandal (and yes, we say so facetiously).

Mr. Chabbott was reportedly the co-founder of Line Snob, a social network app that monitored lines and provided its users wait times. The app is no longer available on iTunes. The last tweet on Line Snob's Twitter account was on June 24, 2010.

Eric Adler, another c0-founder of Line Snob, is now running Puesto Mexican Street Food, a restaurant in La Jolla, Calif. He did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Burg Upender, the CEO of Mobomo, which helped build the Line Snob app, said he was "not interested in commenting" when reached by phone.

drosen@observer.com