MEDFORD MAN INDICTED FOR MANSLAUGHTER IN THE FIRST DEGREE

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the indictment of defendant David Cruz for Manslaughter in the First Degree for allegedly violently beating a patron at a bar in Holbrook. The victim later died from the injuries he sustained during the beating.

“Defendant Cruz stands charged with Manslaughter in the First Degree. After covering a surveillance camera in a failed attempt to hide his intended crime, the defendant allegedly beat a vulnerable victim so severely that he died,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This despicable and senseless act will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and we will seek justice for the victim’s family and loved ones.”

Cruz, 31, is charged with Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class B Violent Felony Offense which carries the maximum sentence of 25 years’ incarceration, if convicted.

As detailed in the people’s bail request, on August 21, 2022, Cruz was working as a bouncer at Tailgaters Bar in Holbrook, when he allegedly got into a verbal dispute with the victim, Jake Scott, 32, of Centereach.

At approximately 2:45 a.m. that night, Cruz went outside of the bar and engaged in a further verbal exchange with the victim and allegedly repeatedly attempted to draw him away, out of the view of the bar’s own surveillance camera.

After failing in his attempt to lure Scott out of the camera’s view, the defendant allegedly walked to his vehicle in the parking lot, removed something from his pocket, removed his hat, placed both items into his car and returned to the front area of the bar. Once there, Cruz dragged a chair over to the bar surveillance camera, stood on it, removed his shirt, and covered the camera with it. These actions were caught on video.

Apparently unaware that a security camera was filming from a nearby business, Cruz, who stands 6 feet 5 inches in height and weighs 270 pounds, is seen in video footage allegedly covering the bar camera and immediately beginning a brutal assault on Scott. Cruz allegedly delivered the first punch to Scott while the victim was starting to get up from his seat after he saw the defendant come at him. The victim fell onto the cement sidewalk from the blow of the first punch and remained there as Cruz allegedly got on top of him and delivered more punches to the victim’s head. When Scott lay motionless and unconscious on the ground, the defendant grabbed the victim’s shirt and pulled him up with it yelling at him to get up. When Scott didn’t respond, the defendant dropped him back to the ground and delivered a final blow to the victim’s head before fleeing the scene. Scott was taken by Holbrook Ambulance to Stony Brook Hospital where he was placed in a medically induced coma. There, it was determined that as a result of the assault, Scott suffered a brain bleed, a complete skull fracture, and a traumatic brain injury. Scott remained in the hospital for 11 days before he died as a result of his injuries.

Cruz surrendered to police at the Fifth precinct on August 24, 2022, and was charged with a top count of Assault in the Second Degree. Prior to the death of the victim, Cruz appeared before the Honorable F. Scott Carrigan of the Suffolk County District Court and was released after posting a $150,000 bond.

Today, at arraignment on the indictment, the Honorable John B. Collins, Supreme Court Justice, transferred the bail Cruz received at his initial hearing on August 24, 2022.

Bail was set to $75,000 cash, $150,000 bond or $1 million partially secured bond. Cruz is being represented by Glenn Obedin, Esq. His next court date is October 18, 2022.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Elizabeth Creighton and Gabriella DeRosa of the Major Crime Bureau.

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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