| Victim of violent pizza parlor attack questions lack of help |
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| Written by Jeff Garvas | |
| Friday, 30 December 2005 | |
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When this story first aired on local Cleveland television stations in February of 2005 the basic response was shock and awe. Why didn't the patrons in the Akron Pizza Parlor come to the aide of the man who was sucker punched? We first reported about this senseless attack here: Senseless violence stirs two Ohio newspapers from pacifist dreamland (Click 'READ MORE' to Continue) As regular readers of this website may recall, Joseph Scarpino was on the phone with his wife and commented that he was going to be late because of someone cutting in line. Prestina Sims, who he was talking about, broke into a tirade, spit in the manager's face when asked to leave, and summoned her friend Mark Jones, who savagely beat Joseph Scarpino. Scarpino spoke with WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland: Watching the tape, Scarpino says the beating isn't what disturbs him the most.Video: (These links may be old/broken): WKYC Video NewsNet 5 Video In fact, if you've seen the video of the incident, the other patrons in the bar are either ignoring the fight or pretending it isn't happening. Perhaps they too were afraid of the 6' tall man over powering them as well? What remains to be answered is what amount of force any one of those witnesses would have been justified in using against Mark Jones in "defense of another" -- if any at all. Although we thought this case was resolved long ago, WKYC is now reporting (again?) that Mark Jones was sentenced to four years in prison, and Sims will go on trial for felonious assault next month. Judging by the fact that Jones was already a convicted criminal we doubt jail time will change his ways by the time he's released. A thought worth keeping in the back of your mind next time you're waiting in line for pizza. |