David Cruz guilty of manslaughter in death of bar patron Jake Scott
Bouncer David Cruz was convicted Monday in the death of a bar patron he beat with his fists after using his shirt to cover up a security camera outside a bar in Holbrook last August.
Following three hours of deliberation, the jury of four women and eight men sitting in Suffolk County Court found Cruz, 32, of Medford guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Jake Scott on Aug. 21. Cruz faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced May 25.
“This defendant’s job as a bouncer was to protect patrons of the establishment he worked for, and to remove anyone who posed a threat to customers, but it turned out that the only threat to the public on the night of this victim’s tragic death, was the defendant himself,” Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
Cruz’s privately retained defense attorney Glenn Obedin of Central Islip said he was “disappointed” in the verdict. He maintained that his client did not intend to cause serious physical injury when he struck a seated Scott several times with his fist and open hand and dropped him on a sidewalk outside Tailgaters Sports Bar shortly before 3 a.m.
The two men had first crossed paths more than four hours earlier, when Cruz broke up a verbal altercation Scott had with two other patrons at the bar. Witnesses testified that the conflict was sparked after Scott called Cruz a “weirdo” while breaking up the earlier altercation.
Obedin said he wished the jury saw it the way he did. “There was physical injury here, but the intent to cause serious physical injury did not exist,” Obedin said.
Under the law, a defendant is guilty of first-degree manslaughter if he intends to cause serious physical injury and death results.
As the jury foreperson read the verdict, Scott’s mother, Deborah, clutched the hand of a friend seated next to her, tears streaming down her face.
“Total relief,” said Deborah Scott, who attended each day of the one-week trial, as she spoke outside the courtroom. “Justice is going to be served.”
During closing arguments earlier Monday, Obedin told the jury Scott’s death was “an unforeseen consequence of the fight” the two men had.
Obedin said Scott, 32, of Centereach, “wanted to fight” when he first arrived at the bar that evening and again when he returned. Cruz, he said, was doing his job.
“[Scott] went back to Tailgaters, back to where David [Cruz] was,” Obedin said. “Only one person had to be there that night; the person who was working.”
Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Elizabeth Creighton countered that the video evidence shown at trial does not depict “mutual combat.” She repeated several times for the jury that Scott was seated at the time Cruz covered up the security camera and struck him repeatedly before shoving him down. Doctors testified that Scott sustained a fractured skull and traumatic brain injury after his head struck the sidewalk, injuries that ultimately caused his death.
Creighton said the video from outside the bar, which she played for the jury four more times during closing arguments, shows that Scott never physically challenged Cruz, declining on four different occasions that night to step out of view of the bar’s security camera when Cruz asked him to. The entirety of the altercation was captured with sound from a camera outside a neighboring smoke shop.
“This was a brutal attack by [Cruz],” Creighton said. “Not a mistake. Not an accident. Not him doing his job … He made sure that [Scott] would ‘never run his mouth again.’ ”
In addition to the crucial video evidence, the jury heard from the bar’s owner and several employees and patrons during four days of testimony before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice John Collins last week.
Deborah Scott said the videos played during trial did not capture the essence of who her son was.
“My son was a beautiful soul,” she said. “What was portrayed here was a hundredth of what Jake was.”
Bouncer David Cruz was convicted Monday in the death of a bar patron he beat with his fists after using his shirt to cover up a security camera outside a bar in Holbrook last August.
Following three hours of deliberation, the jury of four women and eight men sitting in Suffolk County Court found Cruz, 32, of Medford guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Jake Scott on Aug. 21. Cruz faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced May 25.
“This defendant’s job as a bouncer was to protect patrons of the establishment he worked for, and to remove anyone who posed a threat to customers, but it turned out that the only threat to the public on the night of this victim’s tragic death, was the defendant himself,” Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
Cruz’s privately retained defense attorney Glenn Obedin of Central Islip said he was “disappointed” in the verdict. He maintained that his client did not intend to cause serious physical injury when he struck a seated Scott several times with his fist and open hand and dropped him on a sidewalk outside Tailgaters Sports Bar shortly before 3 a.m.
The two men had first crossed paths more than four hours earlier, when Cruz broke up a verbal altercation Scott had with two other patrons at the bar. Witnesses testified that the conflict was sparked after Scott called Cruz a “weirdo” while breaking up the earlier altercation.
Obedin said he wished the jury saw it the way he did. “There was physical injury here, but the intent to cause serious physical injury did not exist,” Obedin said.
Under the law, a defendant is guilty of first-degree manslaughter if he intends to cause serious physical injury and death results.
As the jury foreperson read the verdict, Scott’s mother, Deborah, clutched the hand of a friend seated next to her, tears streaming down her face.
“Total relief,” said Deborah Scott, who attended each day of the one-week trial, as she spoke outside the courtroom. “Justice is going to be served.”
During closing arguments earlier Monday, Obedin told the jury Scott’s death was “an unforeseen consequence of the fight” the two men had.
Obedin said Scott, 32, of Centereach, “wanted to fight” when he first arrived at the bar that evening and again when he returned. Cruz, he said, was doing his job.
“[Scott] went back to Tailgaters, back to where David [Cruz] was,” Obedin said. “Only one person had to be there that night; the person who was working.”
Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Elizabeth Creighton countered that the video evidence shown at trial does not depict “mutual combat.” She repeated several times for the jury that Scott was seated at the time Cruz covered up the security camera and struck him repeatedly before shoving him down. Doctors testified that Scott sustained a fractured skull and traumatic brain injury after his head struck the sidewalk, injuries that ultimately caused his death.
Creighton said the video from outside the bar, which she played for the jury four more times during closing arguments, shows that Scott never physically challenged Cruz, declining on four different occasions that night to step out of view of the bar’s security camera when Cruz asked him to. The entirety of the altercation was captured with sound from a camera outside a neighboring smoke shop.
“This was a brutal attack by [Cruz],” Creighton said. “Not a mistake. Not an accident. Not him doing his job … He made sure that [Scott] would ‘never run his mouth again.’ ”
In addition to the crucial video evidence, the jury heard from the bar’s owner and several employees and patrons during four days of testimony before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice John Collins last week.
Deborah Scott said the videos played during trial did not capture the essence of who her son was.
“My son was a beautiful soul,” she said. “What was portrayed here was a hundredth of what Jake was.”
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
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