Three Lorain County men who allegedly stomped on an unconscious man in front of a downtown bar have been indicted.
A Wood County grand jury on Wednesday indicted Jacquez Moon, 23, Nehemiah Sadler, 22, and Kevin Penny III, 21, for felonious assault and two counts assault.
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 witness told police that the man, who was identified as a BGSU student, was trying to break up a fight between three other men and a band playing on the sidewalk. The 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 Bowling Green Police Division 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.
A review of the downtown cameras showed Moon, Sadler and Penny waiting in line to enter a bar. They appeared to assault the bouncer. Moon allegedly 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 police 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. The BGSU student intervened and attempted to stop Sadler before tripping and falling, according to the report.
The video showed Moon reportedly punch his jaw causing him to fall to the ground banging his head on the concrete. 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 reportedly 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 his head again before they all fled east on East Court Street, according to the report.
Officers spoke with the bouncer, who said he told the men they needed a student ID to get in.
Moon took the rejection as disrespect, the bouncer told police
The guitar player said the men attacked another guy, who went down “like a sack of potatoes.”
During a follow-up conversation with the victim the next day, he told police he did not have any visible injuries on his body.
The three men allegedly caused serious physical harm to one man and caused or attempted to cause physical harm to two additional men.
The felonious assault charge is a second-degree felony while the other two charges are both first-degree misdemeanors.
