NBC Philadelphia had the story first overnight: An arrest has been made by Philadelphia Police surrounding that Winter Classic fan attack outside of Geno's Steaks two Monday's ago.
One of the three assailants, Dennis Veteri of Glassboro, N.J., turned himself in around 2 p.m. yesterday after an arrest warrant was issued by the PPD. He's now out on bail. Apparently, Mr. Veteri appears to be just as big a scum bag as we could have originally assumed.
Via NBC10:
Earlier this week, three different people -- including the two victims -- identified the suspect from photo lineups, according to police sources.
The suspect has a prior arrest record including drugs, robbery with a gun and aggravated assault, sources said.
The guys were allegedly at the South Philly Bar & Grill right there on the corner of 9th and Passyunk, and NBC says that they racked up a $225 bar tab while watching the game. If it was just the three of them on that tab, well... hoooooly crap, were they drunk or what?
The other two guys are still on the loose, although now that one man has been identified and taken into custody, it's likely only a matter of time before they're snatched up as well.
We couldn't be happier at the development, and full marks go to the PPD for getting this far in such a short period of time. According to the NBC10 report, the two victims -- Woodbridge, N.J. cop Neal Auricchio and his unidentified friend -- were in Philadelphia this past week to make positive IDs of the suspect.
Auricchio, the man wearing the Ryan Callahan jersey in the video of the incident, took the worst of the beating and reportedly needs surgery to repair damage around his eye.
The Rangers are honoring both victims, plus Auricchio's wife Maria and their infant son, with tickets to a February game and the chance to meet the team afterward. We're also still moving forward with plans to do something nice for the victims on behalf of Flyers fans, and if you'd like to contribute to that effort, you can follow along with us with this FanPost.
Rangers fans shouldn't feel threatened in our city -- unless they find harmless trash talk threatening -- and they certainly never deserve a savage beating just because they have misguided team loyalties. Hopefully all three men responsible for this attack spend a nice, long time getting a taste of their own medicine in state prison.
If you still have information about the other two suspects still at large, you can contact South Detectives at 215-686-3013.