In a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court on Wednesday, June 28, Jack Scott’s family claims that Holbrook’s Tailgaters Sports Bar owed a “duty of care” and was responsible for his death.
Scott of Centereach died in September 2022, 11 days after he was brutally beaten by bar bouncer David Cruz.
On August 21, 2022, around 3 a.m., the two got into an argument, according to Suffolk County prosecutors.
Witnesses testified that Cruz was upset because Scott had called him a “weird” earlier in the evening.
Prosecutors said Cruz was aware of surveillance cameras on the outside of the building and repeatedly tried to lure Scott out of the cameras’ view.
After failing to do so, Cruz was caught on video taking off his shirt and covering the camera with it.
With the camera’s view blocked and seemingly unaware that another security camera at a nearby business would capture the attack, the 6-foot-5, 270-pound Cruz unleashed a series of brutal attacks on Scott, prosecutors said. the beating.
Video shows Scott delivering the first punch as he rises from his chair, knocking him to the pavement.
Cruz then rode on top of Scott and repeatedly hit him on the head, eventually knocking him unconscious.
“While Scott was lying motionless and unconscious on the ground, the defendant grabbed the victim by the shirt and pulled him up,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. Tell him to stand up.”
“When Scott did not respond, the defendant lowered him to the ground and delivered a final blow to the victim’s head before fleeing the scene.”
Scott was in a drug-induced coma at Stony Brook Hospital, where doctors found he had a brain hemorrhage, a complete skull fracture and traumatic brain injury.
A week later, on Thursday 1 September, he succumbed to his injuries.
A Suffolk County jury convicted Cruz of first-degree manslaughter in April 2023. He faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced on Friday, June 30.
In a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday, Scott’s family named Tailgaters Sports Bar and its owners “Tailgaters Sports Bar.” It also lists Cruz’s employers, First Choice Protection and Cruz himself.
“First Choice Protection security companies are liable because they hired Mr. Cruz despite his long criminal history,” the family’s attorney, Jon Bell, told the Daily Voice.
“The Tailgaters need to be held accountable for noticing Mr. Cruz’s violent tendencies and yet continuing to use him as a bouncer. They collectively failed to train and supervise Mr. Cruz in the duties of a bouncer,” he continued.
“No amount of money will heal the horrific pain that Jack Scott’s family has endured. All parties responsible for Scott’s death will need to experience the consequences of their actions.”
The Daily Voice has reached out to Tailgaters Sports Bar for comment and will update this story if the company responds.
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