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Police: Jets Fan Was Brutally Beaten By One Suspect With Long Rap Sheet
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 15, 2011
Modified Dec 15, 2011
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via Post
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 15, 2011
Modified Dec 15, 2011
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Yesterday it was reported that a gang of football fans beat up a Jets fan after last Sunday's game at MetLife Stadium—the fight started after one of the assailants allegedly taunted, “You all deserved what happened on 9/11!” Police have arrested Merle Lee, 35, of Newton, NJ, and charged him with third-degree aggravated assault for attacking 23-year-old Queens resident James Mohr; they also insist that only Lee was involved in the attack. The Post reveals that Lee has a long rap sheet, including three years in a NJ prison on a drug-dealing charge, and convictions for drug-possession, theft, DWI and other offenses.
Mohr, a physical-education teacher at the Bronx Guild vocational high school, was walking through Parking Lot J after the Jets trounced the Kansas City Chiefs 37-10 Sunday when a woman in a group (who were allegedly Chiefs fans) screamed, "F--K New York. You all deserved what happened on 9-11." Mohr, who was wearing Jets gear, told them the 9/11 insult was “disrespectful;" police believe he was sucker-punched by Lee soon after, which they say would explain the lack of scrapes on his skin. Even so, Mohr suffered a fractured jaw, cheekbone and eye socket in the beatdown, and also had bleeding on the brain. "His face got crushed in pretty badly. He had no defensive wounds," his mother Maureen Mohr told WPIX.
Police claimed yesterday that the incident "was not a Jets-Chiefs melee," but the Post says that at least one of the men in the group who got in Mohr's face was wearing a Kansas City Chiefs jersey; during that exchange, Lee allegedly ran up from behind and hit Mohr. Mohr went through four-hours of surgery on Tuesday to repair the damage, which included having his eye sewn shut, as well as a drain inserted into his skull. "He has 2 titanium rods around his eye socket and cheekbone. He has four stitches in the back of his head. The brain bleed reabsorbed on its own," Mohr's mother told WPIX. He is listed in fair condition at Hackensack University Medical Center now.
The Jets released a statement about the incident: “We have reached out to James to wish him a speedy and full recovery. Our organization works hard to provide fans with a safe and secure environment, and there is no place for this type of behavior. We are working with the stadium and New Jersey State Police to be certain that any and all perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Tagged
9/11
aggravated assault
beating
chiefs
football
james mohr
jets
merle lee
nfl
sports
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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