The third man accused of participating in a downtown assault has been sentenced.
Nehemiah Sadler, 23, of Lorain, was transported from jail Jan. 25 to the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
He was indicted in April along with Jacquez Moon and Kevin Penny III for allegedly stomped on an unconscious man in front of a downtown bar.
All three were charged with felonious assault and two counts assault.
Defense attorney Alex Smith said Sadler was not the instigator, but he did participate.
He asked for community control as Sadler’s stint in jail along with the felony charge following him his whole life is a punishment.
The goal is to not have this happen again and the best way to monitor his client is on community control, Smith said.
If the court feels prison is necessary, he asked for the minimum sentence, which is nine months, Smith said.
“I don’t think this conduct will happen again. I don’t think it’s consistent with my client,” he said.
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.
“It wasn’t the right thing,” Sadler said. “I definitely learned my lessons.”
Wood County Assistant Prosecutor Charles McDonald said he would not minimize the impact of the assault of the victim, who was passed out on the sidewalk.
“If you’ve seen the video, you’re not going to forget what happened that night,” he said.
Kuhlman told Sadler he needed to thank Moon, who got community control for the effort he put into making sure you didn’t join the fight.
“You were very animated, and you were hyping the hysteria around the situation,” Kuhlman said.
“I’m not a violent person,” Sadler said.
Kuhlman imposed a sentence of 18 months in prison for the amended charge of attempted felonious assault, a third-degree felony.
Sadler was given credit for time served. The two counts of assault were dismissed.
Penny was sentenced in December to three years in prison and Moon was sentenced to two years on community control.
