A Long Island bouncer who covered up a CCTV camera and pounded a bar patron to death after he called him a ‘weirdo’ is facing 25 years in prison for manslaughter.
David Cruz, 32, thought he wouldn’t be caught for brutally beating Jake Scott, 32, outside of Tailgaters Bar in Holbrook on August 21.
Cruz, who weighs 270 pounds and is six-foot-five, got into several scuffles with Scott before the bouncer decided to climb onto a chair and cover a security camera with his shirt around 2.45am, according to prosecutors.
But, Cruz missed a surveillance camera from a nearby business that caught him nailing Scott until he was unconscious.
The former bouncer was found guilty on Monday and is due back for his sentencing on May 25.
A man was found guilty in connection to the death of 32-year-old Jake Scott (above) outside of a Long Island bar on August 21
Tailgaters Bar bouncer David Cruz became angry when Scott (above) called him a ‘weirdo.’ Cruz then covered the bar’s surveillance camera and beat Scott until he was unconscious
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Cruz’s manslaughter charges that he said could’ve been avoided and not ‘de-escalated.’
‘But the defendant could not control his temper and beat Jake Scott so badly that he needed to be placed into a coma and later died due to the severity of his injuries,’ Tierney wrote in a statement.
Tierney explained Cruz became frustrated with Scott after he called him a ‘weirdo’ while the bouncer was working at the bar.
Before covering his shirt with the camera, Cruz attempted to lure the victim out of the camera’s viewpoint before throwing his first punch.
‘When Scott lay motionless and unconscious on the ground, Cruz grabbed Scott’s shirt and pulled him up, yelling for Scott to get up,’ the district attorney’s office wrote.
‘When Scott did not respond, Cruz dropped him back to the ground and delivered a final blow to Scott’s head before fleeing the scene.’
Scott was in the hospital for 11 days before he died. A photo of Scott showed him with a black eye, several blows to the head and a neck brace.
The brutal incident occurred outside of Tailgaters Bar in Holbrook, New York in August 2022
Scott had gotten into several scuffles with the bouncer before the altercation. Pictured: Inside the bar
Scott was in the hospital for 11 days before he died. Prosecutors said his fight with Cruz could’ve been ‘de-escalated’
Three days after the incident, Cruz turned himself into police.
Prosecutors condemned the bouncer for harming a patron rather than keeping them safe as a part of his job.
‘This defendant’s job as a bouncer was to protect patrons of the establishment he worked for, and to remove anyone who posed a threat to customers, but it turned out that the only threat to the public on the night of this victim’s tragic death, was the defendant himself,’ District Attorney Tierney wrote.
He added: ‘I am thankful that the jury paid careful attention to this case and found the defendant guilty of this violent and senseless crime.’
At the time of his death, a GoFundMe was set up to support Scott’s mother, Deborah Scott and raise funds for his funeral expenses. More than $27,000 was raised.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
