Hockey fan sentenced to community service and anger management for punching rival spectator at MSG
A New York Rangers fan who knocked out a Lightning fan with a nasty sucker punch at Madison Square plead guilty to misdemeanor assault and was let off with slap on the wrist in a New York City court today.
James Anastasio, 29, submitted a guilty plea for 3rd degree assault and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service by a Manhattan judge over the June attack on the Tampa-based fan, named only as Alex.
He also has to undergo long term anger management therapy, and could face further punishment if he is arrested again in the next twelve months.
Anastasio said nothing as he arrived in court with his father, who jokingly tried to prevent a photographer from taking his son’s photo as they walked into the court house.
Madison Square Garden previously barred Anastasio from the venue for life over an attack the victim said was unprovoked.
That victim – a hockey fan from Florida only known as Alex – has kept himself out of the limelight since video of the assault went viral and has made no comment on the sentencing.
James Anastasio, 29, submitted a guilty plea for 3rd degree assault and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service on Wednesday
It comes amid an outcry over soft NYC justice, which locals say is causing a violent crime spiral triggered by re-offending criminals. There is no suggestion Anastasio has any prior convictions or arrests.
Anastasio, a resident of Staten Island, spent the summer on supervised release following the June punch-out which he initially denied. His lawyer had said Anastasio’s victim was been drunkenly harassing him, and that he only threw the haymaker because he felt ‘outnumbered and ultimately threatened.’
After his arrest Anastasio correctly feared the video would go viral, reportedly telling cops ‘Oh f**k, this may be on the internet.’
Anastasio’s father also claimed his son was provoked into the punch. No footage has emerged showing anything that may have led up to the brutal attack.
James Anastasio, 29, and his attorney approach the New York City courthouse on Wednesday
The vicious footage showed Anastasio in a red Rangers t-shirt walking down a concourse at MSG as the Lightening fan chanted something to taunt rival fans behind him.
Anastasio suddenly wheeled around and threw his body into a punch that connected with with the Lightening fan’s head. The victim then crumpled to the ground and cracked his head on the floor.
He then fled the scene as dozens of worried fans surrounded the victim.
Anastasio was later arrested, but not before punching out a 37-year-old witness who tried to stop him from escaping.
James Anastasio’s father jokingly blocks his son from view of photographers as they approached the courthouse on Wednesday
James Anastasio (right) and his father (left) approach the courthouse in New York City on Wednesday
James Anastasio enters the New York City courthouse before making his guilty plea Wednesday
The victim was at the game with his brother and told NBC the attack was unprovoked.
‘We were just trying to get out of there like everyone else and then, all of a sudden, a beer was thrown at us, and me and my brother kind of separated in that second,’ he said, ‘The next thing I know, I look over, I hear a thud on the ground and it’s my brother laying there.
‘The thud. You can hear it in the video. I’ll never get that sound out of my head. My brother’s head hitting the ground,’ he added.
Anastasio’s father, who joined him for most of his court appearances, previously said there was ‘nothing to defend’ about his son’s behavior.
‘Sometimes choices in our lives have consequences. There’s nothing to defend. It is what it is,’ he told The New York Post, ‘We’ll wait for him to come home, we’ll pick him up, and everything’s OK. Tomorrow’s a new day.’
As for the victim, Tampa Bay Lightening CEO Steve Griggs said he reached out to him and promised to send him a ‘bunch of playoff swag.’
The viral video shows Anastasio in red turning to punch the Lightning fan in blue as they made their way out of Madison Square Garden on Thursday
The Lightning fan was knocked out cold but reportedly refused medical attention at the scene after he regained consciousness