Funds Being Raised For Mom Of LI Man Who Died From Bar Beating: Attny

LONG ISLAND, NY — The family of a Long Island man who was beaten outside of a bar and later succumbed to his injuries is desperately collecting funds to help with his funeral expenses, their attorney says.

Jake Scott, 32, was beaten by a man believed by Syosset attorney Jon Bell to be a bouncer outside of Tailgater's Sports Bar in Holbrook on Aug. 21.

A GoFundMe page has since been started to help Scott's mother lay him to rest.

"After spending days in the hospital fighting for his life, he finally succumbed to his injuries and passed away on Sept. 1," Bell wrote on the GoFundMe page.

"Due to the ongoing investigation by the Suffolk County [District Attorney's] office, we can not go into further detail at this time," he continued, adding, "However, all the funds will go to Jake's mother, Deborah Scott, to assist her with unforeseen expenses relating to Jake's funeral as well as staying home from work to properly mourn the loss of her son."

Scott's attacker was identified Friday night by Suffolk police as David Cruz of North Bellmore.

Police said Cruz punched Scott outside of Tailgater's at about 3 a.m., and Scott was taken with serious injuries to Stony Brook University Hospital.

Cruz was arrested on Aug. 24 and was charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury, a felony.

The case, which was handled by 5th Squad detectives, has now been transferred to the department’s homicide squad, police said.

Suffolk police did not initially send out a news release following the incident, as is often done.

Police did not respond to an inquiry as to why the Public Information Bureau did not publicize the beating.

A spokeswoman for DA Ray Tierney's office said she did not have any further information about Scott's beating.

Patch did reach out to the owner of Tailgater's but she was not available to speak with a reporter.

Bell told News 12 that video surveillance shows Scott sitting on a box outside the bar and at one point, Cruz can be seen provoking him as he waves his arms in the air. Cruz can then be seen using a shirt to cover a security camera, and then grabs something from his car and begins hitting Scott, Bell told the outlet.

Bell said Scott's brain was swollen and doctors had to cut out pieces of his skull, the outlet reported.

“We spoke with witnesses and apparently Cruz has been violent with customers in that bar in the past,” he told News 12. “On top of that, we ran his rap sheet. He has a never-ending rap sheet with violent charges. He should have never worked as a bouncer in a bar.”

Cruz is being held at the Suffolk County Jail on a $150,000 bond or $75,000 cash bail, according to online court records.

Cruz's attorney, Sean Dixon, of Hauppauge, declined to comment.

So far, the page has raised about $13,000 towards its $20,000 goal.

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