Man gets 3 years in videotaped 'Merry Christmas' beating
FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) - A video posted on YouTube a few days before Christmas in 2011 shows a young man striding purposefully into the woods as a cameraman asks what he's about to do.
"About to go beat up this bum," the man in the video says.
And that's exactly what he does, punching and kicking a homeless man in the face, bloodying his nose, before wishing him a Merry Christmas.
That videotaped assault led to a three-year prison sentence Friday for the man shown carrying it out.
Taylor Giresi, whose lawyer said he has an IQ of 74 and numerous psychological issues, told Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. that he didn't intend to hurt David Ivins. But he also said he failed to see what the big deal was.
"I already apologized to the homeless man; I knew him," Giresi said in a halting monotone. "It wasn't like anything serious. But when I put it on YouTube it got serious. I wasn't trying to hurt the man."
Giresi pleaded guilty in January under the terms of a plea agreement to conspiring to use a juvenile to commit a crime. More serious charges, including assault, were dropped as part of the agreement.
Prosecutors and Giresi's defense lawyer agreed Giresi was egged on and had his actions directed by a juvenile who filmed the attack and who was 17 at the time. The status of prosecution of the juvenile, whose name has not been made public, was not immediately available.
Giresi was 20 at the time of the attack, but had mental issues and were easily influenced by the co-defendant, with whom he lived in Lake Como, not far from the site of the attack in Wall Township, according to court testimony.
"What I did was wrong," said Giresi, who claimed he was under the influence "of marijuana and something else" that day. "I wasn't thinking right. He said the wrong thing at the wrong time; I reacted on it."
Ivins did not attend the court hearing and his whereabouts could not be determined.
The video, which was quickly taken down from the video sharing site after the pair were charged, shows Giresi repeatedly kicking and punching Ivins, while taunting him and pretending to sympathize with him.
"Just dive on him! Dive on him!" the cameraman says on the video as the assailant approaches a disheveled-looking man in a wooded area. The young man in the video knocks the homeless man to the ground, as the attacker and the cameraman dissolve into fits of laughter.
After initially attacking the homeless man, the young man in the video returns to him again. As the cameraman urges him on, he punches the homeless man in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.
The two then announce they are stealing the homeless man's bicycle.
"No, I need my bike!" the victim protests.
The young man smiles at the camera, then runs off with the bicycle as the cameraman yells, "Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or whatever the (expletive) you are."
The second part of the video appears to chronicle a different assault in which the same victim is punched, kicked and knocked to the ground. He slowly gets up and looks directly at the camera as the cameraman apologizes for the assault in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, my God, you're bleeding!" the cameraman says. "We didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Wipe off the blood."
The cameraman then directs the young man to give the victim a hug. The bleeding victim reaches out to hug his attacker, who then rams his knee into the homeless man's stomach.
The homeless man begins to scream, prompting the attackers to leave, but not before the young man runs up and delivers a flying kick to the victim's head.
"You gave him the big boot!" the cameraman exults. "The big boot!"
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"About to go beat up this bum," the man in the video says.
And that's exactly what he does, punching and kicking a homeless man in the face, bloodying his nose, before wishing him a Merry Christmas.
That videotaped assault led to a three-year prison sentence Friday for the man shown carrying it out.
Taylor Giresi, whose lawyer said he has an IQ of 74 and numerous psychological issues, told Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. that he didn't intend to hurt David Ivins. But he also said he failed to see what the big deal was.
"I already apologized to the homeless man; I knew him," Giresi said in a halting monotone. "It wasn't like anything serious. But when I put it on YouTube it got serious. I wasn't trying to hurt the man."
Giresi pleaded guilty in January under the terms of a plea agreement to conspiring to use a juvenile to commit a crime. More serious charges, including assault, were dropped as part of the agreement.
Prosecutors and Giresi's defense lawyer agreed Giresi was egged on and had his actions directed by a juvenile who filmed the attack and who was 17 at the time. The status of prosecution of the juvenile, whose name has not been made public, was not immediately available.
Giresi was 20 at the time of the attack, but had mental issues and were easily influenced by the co-defendant, with whom he lived in Lake Como, not far from the site of the attack in Wall Township, according to court testimony.
"What I did was wrong," said Giresi, who claimed he was under the influence "of marijuana and something else" that day. "I wasn't thinking right. He said the wrong thing at the wrong time; I reacted on it."
Ivins did not attend the court hearing and his whereabouts could not be determined.
The video, which was quickly taken down from the video sharing site after the pair were charged, shows Giresi repeatedly kicking and punching Ivins, while taunting him and pretending to sympathize with him.
"Just dive on him! Dive on him!" the cameraman says on the video as the assailant approaches a disheveled-looking man in a wooded area. The young man in the video knocks the homeless man to the ground, as the attacker and the cameraman dissolve into fits of laughter.
After initially attacking the homeless man, the young man in the video returns to him again. As the cameraman urges him on, he punches the homeless man in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.
The two then announce they are stealing the homeless man's bicycle.
"No, I need my bike!" the victim protests.
The young man smiles at the camera, then runs off with the bicycle as the cameraman yells, "Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or whatever the (expletive) you are."
The second part of the video appears to chronicle a different assault in which the same victim is punched, kicked and knocked to the ground. He slowly gets up and looks directly at the camera as the cameraman apologizes for the assault in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, my God, you're bleeding!" the cameraman says. "We didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Wipe off the blood."
The cameraman then directs the young man to give the victim a hug. The bleeding victim reaches out to hug his attacker, who then rams his knee into the homeless man's stomach.
The homeless man begins to scream, prompting the attackers to leave, but not before the young man runs up and delivers a flying kick to the victim's head.
"You gave him the big boot!" the cameraman exults. "The big boot!"
___
What is it about videos of bad criminal behavior going public that people don't understand?
He has no sense for why what he did was wrong, he denies that beating someone is done with the intent to harm, his apology was not sincere. Three years of jail will not rehabilitate this animal, it needs to be removed permanently from society.
Senseless beating. This is not funny at all, the poor bum. He didn't do anything to deserve a beating like that... nobody should experience that. What they should do is give Giresi double the time (6 years) or, do the same thing to him- what goes around comes around you jerk. Have someone hold him and two other people punch and kick him and laugh about it... then taught him to give them a hug and knee him in the stomach and see how it feels. A true taste of your own medicine. He is a sick, heartless jerk.Â
Ony three YEARS??????? WTF?
Sick. See? The Courts and prosecutors in New Jersey are just as useless in Seattle? Why the hell do they drop the charges in these cases?? Are they afraid of doing hard work of actually fighting for the real charges? Â An attack like that should get someone 8 years in jail. It's pure evil. And someone who has zero empathy for others, and is doing drugs, is going to kill someone. Â
The Man is homeless I am one pay check away from that my self. I promise the attacker and his cheerleader would be the news head line if they attempted to make me the victim.
@patriot279 President Foodstamps will save you.