Millionaire Four Seasons owner, 62, dubbed 'Naughty Niccolini' arrested after associate's daughter, 28, accuses him of 'groping her breasts and trying to rip off her stockings' inside $72-a-plate restaurant

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A co-owner of the Four Seasons restaurant was arrested for allegedly groping and trying to undress a young guest at his high-class Manhattan establishment.

Julian Niccolini, 62, was taken into custody by the NYPD's Special Victims Unit Wednesday after a 28-year-old woman claimed he grabbed her breasts and buttocks, pulled down her stockings and touched her through her underwear.

According to the woman, said to be the daughter of a business associate, he also tried to take off her bra during the encounter on May 9 this year.

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Accused: Julian Niccolini, 62, was arrested Wednesday over claims he groped a 28-year-old woman at the Four Seasons restaurant, which he co-owns, last month. He is pictured above leaving court with his wife, right, and daughter, left

Police confirmed the arrest, which took place at NYPD offices, to DailyMail.com. Niccolini was due to be arraigned at the Manhattan Criminal Court the same day, where he faces one charge of sex abuse.

He was pictured leaving the a criminal court in Manhattan on Wednesday night, flanked by his wife and his own daughter after pleading not guilty, reports the New York Times.

Prosecutors had asked for bail of $10,000 but the judge ordered him to be released without bail.

The woman, said by police to be 'an associate' of Mr Niccolini, is said to have made her complaint against Niccolini on May 11, two days after the encounter. 

She told investigators he had tried to kiss her, touching her legs and buttocks and pulling her toward him, according to a criminal complaint.

It says that he then reached through an opening in the back of her dress and tugged on her bra until it ripped, touched her breasts, pushed up her dress and tried to pull down her stockings.

She told detectives that she repeatedly told him to stop but he refused and she was unable to break free for his hold.

Court: Niccolini, pictured with daughter, Marusca, allegedly tried to take off the woman's bra and left scratches on her back

'Naughty': Niccolini, who describes himself as 'naughty' on Twitter, is pictured above sitting in the pool at the center of the Four Seasons

A prosecutor from the Manhattan district attorney's office said in court that Mr Niccolini attacked the woman with such force that it ripped her bra open and left scratch marks on her back and bruising on her hip.

But Mr Nicollinin's lawyer John Moscow told the judge that he denies the claim.

He said that the encounter took place in a bar at the restaurant, a few feet from a bartender, while there was a party going on in an adjoining room and a wedding underway in another.

'I'm looking forward eagerly to see what the evidence is, if any,' Mr. Moscow said.

His daughter, Marusca Niccolini told The New York Post on Wednesday that her father was innocent.

'My father would absolutely never harm a young woman,' she said outside court.

The recent accusation is more bad news for the restaurant which must find a new home after landlord Aby Rosen will not renew the four decade-old lease

High class: Niccolini, along with co-owned Alex von Bidder, has run the Four Seasons for four decades

The paper said that part of the restaurant was empty then, as guests were packed into the dining room, which entree prices stretch to $72 per person.

An NYPD source who spoke to the post about the accusations said: 'Her back was pretty scratched up. They were both drinking but not drunk.'

Niccolini has been in charge of the Manhattan spot for some 40 years, alongside co-owner Alex von Bidder.

The restaurant has always occupied a prime location in midtown Manhattan, not far from Grand Central Terminal - but is planning to move over a rent dispute. 

On his Twitter profile, the accused restaurateur describes himself as 'Naughty Niccolini'. 

According to the Post, he has the reputation of a tease and once wore a cap branded 'Boob Inspector' for a joke at his 50th birthday party. 

He also faced sexual harassment claims from a Four Seasons waitress in 1991.