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Call 911 when Anthony Abbate violates probation and send him to jail

Officer Abbate Gets Probation For Beating Bartender

Could have been sentenced to up to five years in jail

A Chicago police officer was sentenced to two years probation Tuesday for pummeling a woman who was tending bar, even though prosecutors produced a previously unseen video showing him beating someone else at the bar hours earlier.

Anthony Abbate — who declined to say anything to the judge before he was sentenced — could have gotten up to five years for beating Karolina Obrycka in February of 2007. The attack was captured by the bar’s security camera and the video was shown around the world.

Judge John Fleming said he decided against jail time, explaining he did not believe the crime was serious enough and that throwing Abbate in prison would not be a deterrent to others.

"If I believed that sending Anthony Abbate to prison would stop people from getting drunk and hitting other people, I'd sentence him to the maximum," the judge said. "But I don't believe that is the case."

Fleming also imposed a curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for Abbate. The cop must also attend anger management classes, undergo alcohol evaluation and perform 130 hours of community service.

Fleming said he would like Abbate to perform the service in a homeless shelter.

In arguing for prison time, prosecutors produced a previously unseen video from the bar hours before Obrycka was attacked showing Abbate beating someone else.

In the video, a man in the bar can be seen speaking with Abbate for a few seconds, after which Abbate grabs the man, slams him against a wall and then throws him across the room. The man crashes to the floor and into the bar stools, and Abbate stands over him as the man tries to shimmy away on his back.

Assistant State's Atty. LuAnn Snow said the attack was one of three unprovoked assaults in the span of 6 hours, a violent window into "a day in the life of Anthony Abbate." Authorities did not charge Abbate with the other two alleged attacks.

Snow said it was "by the grace of God" that Obrycka wasn't more severely injured.

In a brief statement to the court, Obrycka said the attack has left her fearful, has affected her marriage and left her unable to trust others.

"It was terrifying to be attacked by such a big man," Obrycka told Fleming. "I tried to protect myself, but I was helpless."

As time passed, "I thought about the beating a lot," she said. "I had nightmares about it, I try to avoid thinking about the beating, but I was helpless again... I pulled away from people close to me. I was irritable and angry, [and] I was fearful of other people. If someone walked behind me, I would jump and unexpected noises made me jump, too.

"The world didn't feel like a safe place anymore," Obrycka said. "I also started to have anxiety attacks which I never had before. When something would remind me of the beating, I would start to feel nauseated, then vomit. My head hurt, my hands became numb and then I would start to sweat and shake."

"My world still feels changed because of this beating," she continued. "I have a hard time trusting people, including my husband. Our marriage is very difficult. I'm still irritable and suspicious... I'm working very hard to recover from this beating, but it is harder than I could ever imagine."

Before handing down his sentence, Fleming said "any adult in the world" would know better than to act as Abbate did, but said he did not believe that a term of imprisonment was appropriate.

He noted that Abbate had no prior criminal history, and his crime did not involve a handful of other factors that under the law would justify a sentence greater than probation.

"He didn't cause serious harm -- the doctor said it was bumps and bruises," Fleming said as he delineated the reasons why probation was the correct sentence.

He said the widespread media attention was immaterial in reaching his decision.

www.wgnradio.com/wgnam-abbate-sentencing-062309,0,5845293.story

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Originally posted by piratenews:
Amazing how there were no men in that bar.

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
So a cop beats a hot 125lb bartender and gets two years probation and some chick downloads 24 songs and gets a 2 million dollar fine.

Seems fair to me.

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