Posted on Sat, Feb. 26, 2005
Woman says she's served her jail time
Accused pizza shop agitator says trial shouldn't follow plea bargain
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
The Akron woman who prosecutors say triggered an ugly videotaped beating at a downtown pizza shop says she is sorry but doesn't deserve any more jail time.
Prestina Sims, 31, met with reporters Friday, a week after a judge released the videotape that helped to convict her boyfriend of felonious assault and propel local debate on social conduct.
In the tape, Sims is seen entering DaVinci's Pizza on South Main Street last July. She soon confronts a customer who complained she was cutting to the front of the line. Sims spat on a store manager who tried to throw her out and then pointed to the customer and ordered her boyfriend, Mark Jones of Akron, to ``take care of this white mother (expletive).''
Jones, who is 6-foot-4 and weighs 320 pounds, pummeled the customer, Joseph Scarpino, 28, drilling him with seven unanswered blows to the head as a lobby full of customers looked on in shock.
Scarpino, 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, suffered a broken nose, a chipped tooth and a concussion. Jones, 35, was sentenced to four years in prison after his conviction last week in Summit County Common Pleas Court.
Sims, a mother of five, told reporters she is sorry about the incident and wishes the case would go away. She denied making the racist remark about Scarpino, although her words are clearly captured on the videotape.
She also said she felt the matter was put behind her last August when she agreed to a plea bargain with Akron city prosecutors. Sims agreed to serve six months in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing.
In October, however, county prosecutors brought a felonious assault indictment against her. She is scheduled for trial March 14 and faces two to eight years in prison, if convicted.
Prosecutors are expected to argue that in essence, Sims used Jones as a deadly weapon in order to cause serious physical harm to Scarpino.
``I would like to apologize... to Joseph. I didn't expect that to happen,'' she said. ``Every day I think about this incident. It hurts me and I know it affected (Scarpino).''
Scarpino could not be reached for comment.
Sims' attorney, Walter Madison of Akron, would not allow her to comment on what is seen in the videotaped beating.
Madison filed a motion Thursday asking Judge Brenda Burnham Unruh to dismiss Sims' case, citing the previous plea and claiming the new charges violate double jeopardy protections.
A similar motion filed by Sims' former attorney was denied Feb. 2, when Unruh agreed with prosecutors and ruled the plea deal with city attorneys does not prevent county prosecutors from bringing felony charges.
Madison said if the county officials were acting in good faith, they would have commuted Sims' sentence when the indictment was first brought, months before she finished serving six months in jail.
``What we have here is a person who had accepted responsibility now finding herself facing punishment a second time,'' Madison said. ``What I'm doing now, I'm asking the court to dismiss it because of constitutional issues that the state has acted in bad faith. We believe a case brought with an evil eye should not see its day in court. Ultimately, a deal is a deal.''
The tape has been played repeatedly on local and national TV, but Sims said she has not watched it. She said she can't change public opinion that blames her for the attack.
``I'm living this day by day. I do wish it would go away. I wish I could have my life back,'' she said. ``It's a scary feeling that my freedom is still in jeopardy.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or
ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com
Posted on Sun, Feb. 20, 2005
Violent attack truly senseless
You're waiting for the justification.
You watch this videotape of the guy getting the snot beaten out of him in a pizza shop, and you're looking for some sign that maybe he deserved it, or at least did something -- anything -- that would suggest the beating made sense.
Strangely, you realize, you want there to be a reason the 6-foot-4, 320-pound man walked into the pizza shop at his girlfriend's behest and started wailing on a stranger.
That's a very strange thing, you realize -- to want a reason for this brutal act.
But the alternative is worse -- no reason at all.
And that's what it seems to come down to.
Last week, Mark Jones of Akron was found guilty of felonious assault and sentenced to four years in prison for pounding on Joseph Scarpino.
You know that meaningless cliche about ``senseless violence?'' This one sort of gives it meaning.
Look at the video. Scarpino was standing in line at DaVinci's Pizza in downtown Akron last July 31. It was 2:30 a.m. It was crowded. He was waiting for his order.
A woman, Prestina Sims, entered the shop and walked past the line to the counter.
Everyone understandsthat when there's a line, you take your turn. We don't like when this social contract gets broken.
Scarpino, who was on his cell phone with his fiancee, made some comment about this. Sims didn't like that, and unloaded verbally on Scarpino.
Despite her taunting, Scarpino held his tongue. A manager asked her to leave. She did -- and promptly returned with Jones.
She spit on the manager, then began screaming in Scarpino's face.
Most often in cases like this, there are two versions of the story and the truth lies somewhere in between. Not this time. Security camera footage eliminates that middle ground. It is not pretty.
Jones went straight for the face. His first punch appears to have nearly knocked out Scarpino. For the rest of the beating, Jones delivered half a dozen uppercuts to a doubled-over victim.
He broke Scarpino's nose, gave him a concussion, chipped a tooth and dropped him in a heap, where Jones tossed him around like a rag doll while looking for a dropped cell phone.
Scarpino's no small guy -- 6-foot-2, 220 pounds -- but Jones outweighed him by 100 pounds. Scarpino never got a punch in.
Maybe you'd feel better if there was justification. Sims' lawyer tried to create some. She said Scarpino, who is white, made a racial remark about Sims, who is black. But no witnesses -- and there were several -- confirmed this.
Jones tried, too. He said he believed Scarpino was going to hit the young lady. Yet Scarpino withstood Sims' verbal tirade without doing anything to escalate the confrontation.
Sims, in fact, made the first physical contact, repeatedly flicking Scarpino on the cheek before instructing Jones to ``take care of this white mother (expletive).''
So you're still waiting for the justification.
Because as ugly as all this is, there would be some degree of comfort in being able to say Scarpino deserved this.
But no matter how many times you replay the tape, it's just not there.
You've known the rules since you were old enough to understand. You get in line; you wait your turn. You get on the highway; you follow the rules. You sit in a movie theater; you keep quiet.
That's the social contract. You hardly notice when it's being followed, and you don't like when someone breaks it.
The beating of Joseph Scarpino is disturbing specifically because of the way it taunts that understanding. He got in line that night and followed the rules. Someone else broke them. And he got pummeled for it.
In civilized society, there are rules. One brutal violation proves their importance.
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The video can be viewed at:
Moderator Action: Link removed . Warning: It contains extreme violence and profanity. David Giffels' column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. He can be reached at 330-996-3572 or at
dgiffels@thebeaconjournal.com.
what did he do? that's horriblle.
