Two of three men accused of assaulting a man downtown by stomping on his head have been sentenced.
Jacques Moon, 24, Lorain; and Kevin Penny II, 21, Cleveland appeared separately Thursday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
Nehemiah Sadler, 23, Lorain, was scheduled to be sentenced, but he did not appear. A statewide warrant was issued for his arrest.
All three were indicted in April for felonious assault, a second-degree felony; and two counts assault, both first-degree misdemeanors.
They were accused of assaulting a man in front of Downtown Bar and stomping on his head while he was on the ground.
The three men in October pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault, a third-degree felony.
On March 18 around 12:30 a.m., Bowling Green police were called to the 100 block of North Main Street for an unconscious man.
A review of the downtown cameras showed Moon, Sadler and Penny waiting in line to enter a bar. They appeared to assault the bouncer. It was explained in court the incident started after the men were denied entrance as they did not have student IDs.
Moon took the rejection as disrespect, the bouncer told police.
Moon grabbed the bouncer and the other two began punching him in the face. The entire time the bouncer is seen with his arms up trying to cover his face from the assault. The bouncer broke away from the group with the help of bystanders and retreated into the bar, according to the Bowling Green Police Division report.
A male with a black shirt and a guitar slung over his shoulder appeared to attempt to de-escalate the situation. The three men can be seen moving toward him in an aggressive manner as he holds his hand up. A BGSU student intervened and attempted to stop Sadler before tripping and falling, according to the report.
A witness said the three men attacked the BGSU student and kept stomping on his head while he was unconscious on the ground, according to the police report.
He lay motionless while Penny reportedly stomped on his chest so forcefully that it caused his right arm to twitch. Bystanders immediately rushed and were able to back Penny off. However, seconds later, he rushed back in, jumped in the air and stomped on the man’s head with both feet.
The man with the guitar rushed in and pushed the three males back. Moon and Sadler retaliated with a flurry of punches at the man. Meanwhile, another bystander attempts to talk to Penny and pulls him back. Penny reportedly can be seen stomping on the victim’s head again.
A woman with the three men tried to push them back. Sadler was still aggressively gesturing toward bystanders and Penny maneuvered around and stomped on the victim’s head again. Each stomp he landed reportedly caused the man’s head to move and his body convulsed, as was seen on the video.
It appeared that the group was going to leave but Penny returned and stood around as several subjects were trying to render aid. Penny then stomped on the man’s head again before they all fled east on East Court Street, according to the report.
Shortly before the ambulance arrived, the student regained consciousness. He refused medical care.
Additional police units stopped a vehicle that was pointed out by witnesses that contained the possible suspects. Witnesses identified Moon, Sadler and Penny as the offenders.
Penny did not have any juvenile offenses, and this is his first felony, said defense attorney Sara Roller.
He works full time and supports his sister and niece.
“That role that he has with his sister’s child is very close,” Roller said.
“The offense itself is rather horrendous. Mr. Penny did not start the altercation, but he finished it,” she said.
He has not denied stomping on the man’s head, and she realized her request for community control was “a hard ask because of what he did.”
“I’m sorry for what I did,” Penny said. “I know it’s wrong. I learned from it.”
He said he has not seen the video.
Kuhlman said Penny has not shown genuine remorse based on statements made in court and in the presentence investigation.
“Your behavior is shocking. It’s the exact type of behavior I hope someone is not capable of doing,” Kuhlman said.
The victim, who tried to stop another fight, was unconscious and defenseless on the sidewalk while other people tried to protect him, Kuhlman said.
“I was intoxicated. I really didn’t know what was going on,” Penny said.
“You repeatedly stomped him on the head,” Kuhlman said. “He did nothing to you.”
When your friends were leaving, you came back and stomped on his again, he said.
Your behavior is as close to trying to kill someone as he has seen in his three years on the bench, Kuhlman said.
Being intoxicated is not a justifiable excuse and trying to deflect and place the blame on the co-defendants is unjustifiable, he said.
He said he could not accept a sentence of community control and live with himself.
He imposed a prison sentence of three years. Penny was taken into custody and transported to jail.
Moon’s defense attorney, Martin Dow, said this behavior was “pretty atypical” of his client.
Were it now for excessive consumption of alcohol, he wouldn’t be here, Dow said about his client.
“He doesn’t dispute anything. He remembers waking up in jail,” Dow said.
Moon expressed remorse and after having the chance to watch the video, he couldn’t believe he did what was shown, Dow said.
“There are times people need to go to prison … but my feeling on this matter is … this is so atypical of my client and the chance of this happening again is slight,” he said.
Dow pointed out the victim did not seek medical treatment and asked for a sentence of community control.
Kuhlman said he watched the video and saw Moon throw a blindside punch.
“You and the two gentlemen you were with caused the whole thing,” he said. “The punch is not good; it looks terrible on video.”
He said Moon could be facing different charges if the victim had been seriously injured.
“Anyone who saw this video is disgusted by this behavior,” he said.
Kuhlman said he was giving Moon a reprieve from jail solely of the effort he put in to making sure the victim wasn’t more seriously injured.
He sentenced Moon to two years on community control and reserved 36 months if he violates the terms of the sentence.
Moon must not consume any alcohol and have no contact with Sadler or Penny.
