Pizza Parlor Beating Caught On Tape - Man Sentenced To 4 Years

[phrenzy]

The video shows Mark Jones, who is more than 6 feet tall and weighs almost 300 pounds, repeatedly striking Joseph Scarpino in the face and body as customers watched.

Jones was found guilty of felonious assault last week and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Scarpino suffered a broken eye socket and nose, a concussion and a chipped tooth in the beating.

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/4221455/detail.html


God damn, to see those people just do NOTHING is so sad. I can't say I would have been Mr. Hero and stepped in though. Not without an 'equalizer' anyway. If he would have been shot it would have been totally justified. He almost killed the guy.

[bluestateguy]

1. Well now this guy can find lots of new girlfriends in prison

I'd have sentenced him to 40 years instead of 4.

[pacalo]

4. Same here. That was brutal.

[egoprofit]

67. yeah that fucker has an anger problem... i bet hes been in prision before

[Catherine Vincent]

2. Wow. That was brutal.

It looks like only the chick was trying to stop him. But I counted about 6 to 8 people just standing there looking, they could have at least held the man back or something. Geeze. If I were the victim, I would have laid down and stayed down after the first hit.

[Calico Jack Rackham]

3. I'm not a tough guy or anything

but I would never just stand there, with my thumb up my ass like those cowards in the pizzaria and allow someone to be senselessly attacked by a neandrathal like that.

[Skittles]

5. THANK YOU

I would at least be screaming and trying to do SOMETHING

[slackmaster]

17. I would have stepped out of sight and called 911 on my cell phone

There is no way I would put my body at risk against a violent person that large unless it was necessary.

[Renew Deal]

27. Right

I'm not suicidal.

[MadisonProgressive]

62. Yeah, well I would've kicked him in the nuts as hard as I could

then as my life flashed before my eyes, I'd make my final amends.

[Skittles]

6. that first hit was enough to knock him senseless

nt

[egoprofit]

66. yeah not much you can do after that... n/t

[KingoftheJungle]

7. I'm glad they're going to try his GF in the case as well

After all,she started the whole fucking mess and usually people like her get off scott free.

[slackmaster]

9. She was certainly an accessory

By summoning Jones she helped provoke him.

Add one year for cutting in line.

[slackmaster]

8. Consequences of intervening can be devastating even if you're right

Here in California if you jump into a fight and try to intervene on behalf of a stranger perceived to be innocent, you run a high risk of getting sued by anyone you touch. You can also face criminal assault charges. You can end up in jail and/or bankrupt even if you did a morally right thing.

The video is being discussed on firearm-related discussion groups from the perspective of whether or not it would be proper for a person carrying a licensed, concealed weapon (or with no license where permitted, i.e. Alaska and Vermont), to intervene in the incident. The consensus is that in Ohio where the incident occurred, it would be permissible. Likewise in Texas and several other states. However, even in those states there are potential negative civil and criminal problems for good Samaritans.

But in California it would be a definite "no-shoot" situation. If you try to make it your problem by intimidating the attacker so you can intervene, you'll just get yourself into trouble for provoking a new fight. You can protect yourself and your loved ones, but not a stranger.

[rodeodance]

10. "cutting in line Rage"--good grief!!

[kittenpants]

11. how about calling the police are yelling for them to stop or...

anything would be better than just standing there. Watching that beating made me want to vomit, seriously. What is the good of CNN playing that over and over?

[Mr. Sinister]

13. Greed for ratings based on prurience and stirring the race hate pot.

In a country of 250+ million people you are going to find
people who act like animals -- especially among the poor
and uneducated. But to show a tape of it on TV just reinforces
negative stereotyping and feeds people's rage and hate.
99.9% of black people do not administer savage unprovoked beatings
to white people. But images like this leave lasting destructive
impressions. And really is this news with the terror and violence perpetrated every day nationally and globally?

[jayfish]

20. Yeah, Your Right, But...

I would have kicked his ass anyway. :evilgrin:

Jay

[Mr. Sinister]

25. Oh yeah no question

the dude needs to go away just about forever.O8)

Mr. S

[mzmolly]

34. The media loves to stir racial shit. Just like with the Rodney King

beating. They played it again and again and again.

I'm convinced it serves an agenda.

[ixat]

42. Come on, the guy was just a total asshole... who cares if he was black

[Mr. Sinister]

45. it's not either/or

Yes! the guy was a bit more than an asshole...
he was a sociopathic proto-murderer. But IMHO
the media cares very much that he was black
and that his victim was white. If it was black
on black violence, I think it would never have
made the news.

[ixat]

53. And I guess you do have a point at that.

[Judi Lynn]

48. Totally unneccessary to replay it endlessly, isn't it?

Around the time CNN was running this, I saw MSNBC chose to devote an hour one night this week to wallowing in a complete rehash of the strange spectacle of the New York men who groped and manhandled some women who were walking by them in a park. I didn't watch it, having seen it endlessly when it happened several years ago.

It occurred to me that the only possible purpose MSNBC was pursuing was to reawaken a sense of rage and hatred: to stir the pot which may have almost died completely down in the time following that ugly event.

Everyone knows violence is the wrong answer to any provocation. It's also the wrong response to 9-ll to invade and devastate Iraq. CNN (and other cable _Bush-pleasing, groveling stations) would be doing a far better job to focus on the genuinely hellish stuff _Bush has perpetrated upon Americans and Iraqis. It's stupid to tune out the slaughter going on in Iraq and frolic in endless replays of some jerk beating up another man who WILL somehow pull through, unlike all the _Bush bogus war dead.

[Mr. Sinister]

49. Amen sister!!

Just because something (even something spectacular)
happens doesn't mean it's worthy of our attention.
What people really need information and education
on, well I guess that doesn't interest....
or so they claim.

[slaveplanet]

19. Spectator society

Through the combination of television conditioning and laws we have become a nanny state.

Anytime a full grown man attacks me,unknown, unprovoked. I have to go under the assumption, it's a fight to death.

The first assault here, happened when the woman spit in the counterperson's face. this happened before the second victim was involved in any altercation. The proper thing for him to do would have be to end his phone conversation immediatly and focus his attention on the situation at hand. People should have gotten on the horn to police at that point and been on defensive guard, but things happen quickly and it might have escalated things even faster, or it might have distracted her. Hard to say

Clearly this is case of attempted murder. If you look at his intent, the way he is cocking for his blows, he intends maximum force. The victim is rendered incapacitated with the first blow, which is borderline coldcock in it's delivery. After the first blow the victim only puts up minimal resistance, yet the blows keep coming at full force.

The fact is there's not much that could be done after the initial blow.
If police were summoned at that point, the perp would be gone by the time they arrived. If some type of equalizer were to be employed by one of the witnesses, clearly the person with the best authority to do so would be the counter person.

In this case , even if the victim held an Ohio ccw , he would not have had the time to use his defensive weapon before incapacitation.

My personal belief is the witnesses should have been legally able to subdue this attempted murderer by any means necessary (citizens arrest or greater)..but laws are clearly not on their side.

The witnesses helped the perp find his lost cell phone after the assault was seemingly finshed and the vitim's vital condition was unknown (here's your phone(pointing) , have a nice day, just don't hurt me)

Very reminiscent of those old wild west movies where the bandits have their way with the craven townfolk...

Likely this violent criminal will be out in less time than many drug offenses....

[ixat]

41. Well, that kind of sucks... I didn't know it was quite that bad in Cali...

I remember a Republican gun nut friend of mine saying something to the tune of "if worse comes to worst, you'd better kill them dead, because you've got less chance of getting your pants sued off of you that way."

[slackmaster]

43. It's not just California

I took a self-defense class at the Front Sight Institute in Nevada in December. The course was designed to provide a common philosophy and mind-set for people from all states. The least common denominator is there are three fights: First the defensive action itself, then dealing with the response by law enforcement people, then your personal struggle against potential civil and criminal actions.

The bottom line was this: Never use deadly force to protect something you are not willing to die for. If you're not sure about that, don't shoot.

[ixat]

75. Damn, this is just harsh...

[Brooklyn Michael]

60. Somewhere, Kitty Genovese is turning over in her grave

I'd move off this #$%^*&@ planet if I could find somewhere to go...

[Calico Jack Rackham]

64. My friend

it is better to be judged by twelve than carried by six. The sheer size of this thug and force in which he delivered his blows were enough to warrant the escalation of force in the force continuum. This brute sucker punched the guy and then gaged each subsequent blow to be a head shot. It could definitly be argued that his intent was to kill or cripple this guy.

[slackmaster]

79. I could not have taken that guy on empty-handed

He was much to large for me to handle by myself unarmed. Unless bystanders could have formed an instant ad hoc "militia" and collaborated in taking him down, I don't see how there was any hope of a meaningful intervention in the short time available.

[LisaM]

12. I would be afraid of those people. I might call the police, though

from a hiding place.

I would love to read their testimony (the man and his girlfriend.)

[classics]

14. What was actually said?

The article just paraphrases, I'm sure the little guy had to have said something pretty nasty to get immediately punched in he face.

[slackmaster]

16. It's what the victim said on his cell phone

He told the person he was speaking to that their pizza would take a little longer because someone had just cut in line. The woman who cut in line took offense and summoned her boyfriend, the perpetrator.

She was wrong, and no doubt the victim wanted to hear his remark. What he said was not nasty IMO, but it was passive-aggressive.

[AngryAmish]

15. That was a serious beat-down.

I don't understand how the guy stayed up for so long.

[The Stranger]

18. Imagine how bad it was in Abu Ghraib -- this was an everyday incident,

and people actually died. Most of the evidence has been destroyed.

[fassia]

56. get a grip....

You're comparing Abu Ghraib to a pizza joint beating?

.....you're a dolt.

[devilgrrl]

21. If this proves anything...

it's that people who say that "so and so should have done than", "I would have done this"... should just shut the fuck up, since it's painfully obvious that most people would have been just as dumbfounded as bystanders that stood by and watched.

Yeah, everybody has an answer don't they?

[Psephos]

38. Ain't it the truth... n/t

[tuckessee]

51. Maybe it depends on where you live.

In smaller communities there seems to be a greater willingness to get involved.

I can speak from many past personal experiences that altercations occurring in non-bar/night club places will draw lots of intervention & assitance from bystanders.

The last one I was involved in had a teenager being jumped from behind and assaulted by two other teenagers in a somewhat deserted grocery store/strip mall parking lot at about 10:00 PM.

To anyone who saw the start of the beating was obvious that it was unprovoked assault, most likely a robbery/mugging.

To make a long story short, the "good samaritans" were two guys who quickly approached on foot causing the thugs to flee before causing serious injury to the victim and three other people (including a typical blue haired grandma type) who used their vehicles to pen them up and block them in when they tried drive away.

The whole thing lasted less than a minute yet it drew immediate aid from five different people and I'm sure there were others who would've gotten involved had the problem not been solved so quickly.

[chickenscratching]

59. bystander effect

i agree with you--no one is in the position to say that if they'd been there....have you ever heard of the story of this woman named Kitty? In the 60's or 70's this woman was getting murdered outside of an (maybe her) apartment building. neighbors and tenants of the building heard her pleas for someone to save her and no one did anything, leaving kitty to be killed... this is suppposedly due to the bystander effect, where you assume someone else is going to take the responsibility and don't do anything yourself....its amazing what people wont do in sticky situations.

[jasop]

70. I would have and HAVE on many occasions...

stood up for people who get attacked. And I will keep doing it until, like my wife says "It gets me killed"

So quit it with the excuses for cowardice

[devilgrrl]

81. cowardice?

I'm 5'6" 140 and saying something or stepping in would have made a difference huh? Yeah, I so could have stopped that and not taken a beating myself? Well, excuse me for not being a hard ass like you!

[Bake]

22. The attacker punched like George Foreman!

No way I'd get in the way of one of those, unless it was to defend my family. When you have a family that depends on you, you have to consider that before risking your life for a stranger.

Bake

[drummer55]

23. might sound trite....but manners can save ya from a beating

seriously.... It all started cause some dumb ass cut in line. No excuses being given, just saying be courteous and kind to others and alot of negative situations are avoided.

[Bake]

24. Good sense dictates when you should keep mouth shut!

NOt only did the vic's mouthing off buy him an ass-whuppin', it didn't keep the GF from breaking line. All it got him was pain and injury. I"m not saying he deserved it, just saying it could have been avoided. I wonder if he thinks it was worth it.

Bake

[The Stranger]

28. You do seem to be justifying it. Nor could it have been avoided.

If this psychopath didn't attack and maim this person, he would have done so to someone else.

[Sterling]

31. Exactly. If this set the guy off he was a ticking bomb.

That is not an exceptable reaction to an insult.

[monobrau]

33. I've had this conversation...

After a friend nearly got into this exact situation.
If you really think you're right, and you are ready to rumble, then go ahead and say something. But should I jump in to back your mouth up when some asshole starts wailing on you? It sucks, but this stuff happens in traffic and other public spaces all the time, and it's not that easy dealing with the scum of the earth when you just want a slice of pizza.

What I do expect is the business owner to stand up for the customers. Somebody cuts the line, you tell them to leave and call the cops if they don't. Your customers shouldn't have to keep order in your place.
Good bartenders deal with this type of situation all the time/

[Calico Jack Rackham]

69. Oh heres the guy who blames the vic right.

OOOOO.... she had it coming I just had to rape her your honor, that bitches skirt was so short that she was subliminally begging me to fucke her sir. Her mouth was saying no(Thats why I bashed her in the face with a brick)but her body screamed YES.

So I guess now we'll just all keep are mouths shut and let the dregs of society run the world, huh?

This wasnt the victims fault. It was the ape that assaulted him and his cunt girlfriends fault and they will go to prison for it.

Too bad tough guy didn't try that with the wrong person and recieve a lead enema. It would have been such a pity, but of course you would have blamed the shooter in that case too.

[Sterling]

26. bullshit.

I dont advocate people being door mats. This guy is a criminal period.

[NashVegas]

29. What Living In the South Has Taught Me

Saying something like, "you must be *very* hungry," would have been a better conversation starter. That is, if what the guy really wanted was to have his place back and not just throw out a snarky comment and feel superior.

No, that doesn't excuse the result. But maybe if he'd spoken to the person he was pissed at instead of talking about them on his bleeding cell phone there might have been a different outcome.

[Sterling]

30. Honestly he could have called her cunt and it would be the same.

I can beat up a lot of people. If I did it every time someone pissed me off I would be in prison for life.

Defending yourself and what this guy did are not on the same planet.

[Randi_Listener]

35. Why would he call her a cunt?

What would be the impulse?

[Sterling]

39. I don't understand your point.

My point is regardless of what the man said it does not justify this kind of attack/assault.

[Bake]

68. He didn't HAVE to say ANYTHING.

Apparently nobody else did, except the store employee/manager.

No, the vic didn't DESERVE the beating he got; but he might have avoided it. Was the perp a ticking bomb? Sure. But he didn't even come IN the place until the GF summoned him, after the vic had done the cell phone routine.

You can say people ought not be doormats. And I agree. But there is such a thing as common sense too. Not every wrong needs to be confronted, and certainly not by YOU. The store manager could have simply refused to serve the GF and called the cops, and it is possible that nobody would've gotten hurt.

Those who feel compelled to confront EVERY act of incivility, rudeness, etc., sooner or later are going to encounter somebody like the perp in this case.

Bake

[Tomee450]

86. I can't count the times

someone has cut in front of me. I didn't say anything. The victim did not use good sense and I'll bet he regrets it. There are a lot of angry people walking around. The news media is making a lot out of this because of the race of the people involved but this kind of thing happens all the time. An acquaintance of mine got into an argument with another customer at a supermarket. He got angry, said he would not allow a woman to speak to him like that, then slapped her in the face.

People should use common sense. There are a lot of angry people of all races walking about and some lack control. If keeping silent about something unimportant prevents a possible violent confrontation, I'm all for it. Yes the perpetrator was wrong but it is the victim who is feeling all the physical pain. Seems to me in some cases backing down is appropriate.

[NashVegas]

37. I'm Not Defending the Idiot or His Girlfriend

They are responsible for their actions.

I wasn't suggesting Mr. Cellphone call the woman who butted into line a "cunt" or anything of the sort. I was suggesting the *opposite,* in fact ("kill more flies" offense). Just that perhaps he could have handled the situation a little better, as well.

[Sterling]

40. Yes we should all just be sugar and gum drops all the time.

Facts of life are different. People are rude. Rude is not against the law. If someone cut in front of you in line you should be able to say something with out being assaulted.

I don't see any shared guilt in this crime.

[Calico Jack Rackham]

71. I agree.

If you act like an asshole to me than be prepared to be called on it. I don't mean in a confrontational manner either, but I will let someone know that they are being innapropriate.

[theHandpuppet]

47. The guy who got beaten did NOT cut in line

The person who cut in line was the GF of the guy who did the beating. What article were you reading?

[kittenpants]

55. the guy that got beat isn't the person who cut in line though. the gf did.

[Piperay]

32. It's almost impossible to know what

you would do in a situation like that until you are in the situation. I would hope that I would do something but I just don't know. Part of it is the shock and surprise of what is happening and it happens so fast that by the time you realize what is happening it is already to late to intervene. I think 'most' of the time it is best to error on the side of caution instead of making something even worse.

[MrSlayer]

36. Seems about right.

Beating someone down like that for no reason should get you a few years behind bars. I can't see anything in the story or on the tape that would justify it.

[runamokcomedy]

44. Two Words

CONCEALED CARRY

[THUNDER HANDS]

46. two other words

pepper spray

[ixat]

52. 2 yet other words - Muay freakin Thai, a.k.a. "knee to the face".

[THUNDER HANDS]

54. the dude was 6 feet tall

how does one get their knee up that high?

[Calico Jack Rackham]

73. Truer words have never been spoken.

Though I definitly would have hit him with the OC and called 911 first

[DemsUnite]

50. Glad to see the creep will be locked up

A sickening and savage beating for no reason.

[rukkyg]

57. You wouldn't have stepped in

because you don't know if that guy had a gun. His actions and appearance dictate that he most likely did, although we know now that he didn't (I assume). Plus, that guy was talking on his cell phone in a small room. Before the black lady cut in line, everyone else in the place probably already hated the guy on the phone for being so annoying and loud.

If it was some old lady, I think people would be more apt to help than a middle age guy who provoked the lady. And the lady even was calling for her boyfriend and he kept arguing with her like he wasn't scared or anything.

When I was watching it, I thought the guy should have gotten at least 10 years without a chance for parole. But he'll probably be back on the streets within a year.

[Southern Dem 2005]

58. How does his "appearance" indicate he had a gun?

[Behind the Aegis]

61. This is unbelievable!

All of this over some asshole cutting in line! I hope she and the beater get jail time and get sued silly in civil court!

[JTorres138]

63. I wonder if that's how he plans to attract his gentlemen callers in jail?

[maveric]

65. If the attacker had been a white man, would he have gotten 4 years?

Or maybe a year and probation?

[Calico Jack Rackham]

72. WTF???

Are you honestly insinuating that this Jag Off got 4 years just because he was Black? Did we see the same video?

[maveric]

74. Yes we did. And he deserved it. But depending on the juristiction

and judge, if he were white and priviliged...

[clown]

76. was in similiar situation once

I was at an Islanders game and it was in between periods, so I went to get pretzels for my Cousin and me, when I see all these people stopped at the top of the stairs, and I'm thinking what's going on. I look down the stairs and I saw people just falling, what had happened was one guy was on top of another, the friend of the guy on bottom tried to pull him off, but his friend pulled him off, so the two friends like fell down the stairs, so it left the one guy lying on top of the other, (is that clear?) Basically this guy was like 5'9-10", 200+ (maybe like 220) lbs, short and stocky type, but big, looked like a football player, and he was just lying on top of this much smaller guy on the stairs punching him in the face, so I think that his head was probably going back from the blows into the corner of a step, there was blood all over the place, I walked down the stairs and like kinda grabbed at the guy, I didn't want to push him hard because I didn't want to seem like an aggressor, I got his elbow in my eye and then his friend just shoved me away, the friend was pretty big too, I'm like 5'8-9" 175lbs, finally security came and the two agressors left, not before he shouted 'I just made you my bitch, you're my bitch!' and I couldn't believe it but people were actually congratulating him on a 'good fight' 'he really f*cked him up' when the kid got up his face was just pouring blood, I felt sick the rest of the game, situations like that are just crazy, I didn't want to sit and let this kid get pummeled to near death, but at the same time whose to say that guy wouldn't jump on me right after, and as far as the gun aspect goes, I didn't even think of it at the time but in Nassau Coliseum they screen for metal objects before games

[Calico Jack Rackham]

78. The same can be said of any color criminal.

n/m

[slackmaster]

80. I think the 4-year sentence is appropriate

Don't you agree?

[Tomee450]

87. Not likely,

especially if his victim was black. After all, white cops shoot black people in the back as they are running away and get no time at all, even when the beating is captured on tape. The white guy whose victim is black probably would receive at most a few months in jail and some pobation or may not have been charged at all. Excuses would have been found to somehow excuse his behavior.

[d_b]

77. Brutal.

He outweighed that kid by well over a 100lbs.

What a badass. :thumbsup:

[Julius Civitatus]

82. Excuse me?

Did you just give a "thumbs up" to that thug?

That's sick. Revolting.

That bastard pummeled the other guy (which did not respond back) over and over again, savagely, and didn't seem to relent. He got 4 years but I think he should have received more.

But I guess some people find this behavior to be totally "badass", and give him a "thumbs up" sign. Very "abu grahib," in a Lynndie England kind of way...

[d_b]

83. Sarcasm.

In other words, he's a real toug-guy being able to beat up someone that size.

oh, and fuck you.

[Julius Civitatus]

84. I get it now

...although as "sarcasm" it doesn't quite work. Maybe using an emoticon instead of a "thumbs up" sing woudl have worked better, imho.

And by the way, fuck you too, pal.

[d_b]

85. Or maybe

You could just mind your own fuckin' business, eh?


:thumbsup:

Dipshit.