6 Months After Infamous Video, 'Bully' Gets Jail Time

WEST CHESTER, PA — A little more than six months have passed since a disturbing video circulated social media. It showed three men standing in the parking lot just outside of a 7-11 in downtown West Chester. One of the men, in a t-shirt and shorts, had cerebral palsy. Another man in a yellow sweatshirt began to mock his walk, parading past him.

A few moments passed. The pair exchanged words. The man with cerebral palsy was looking away when the suspect in the hoodie hauled back and sucker-punched him in the jaw. The onlooker stood there and watched, doing nothing. The suspect and the onlooker then walked away.

The ensuing months entailed a frenzy of news that, seemingly every week, shone a more disparaging light yet on the man who threw the punch, Barry Baker Jr.. That all came to a close on Wednesday when Baker, 29, of Georgetown, Delaware, was sentenced to three to six years in prison.

“You are a bully. You are a predator,” said Judge William P. Mahon of the Court of Common Pleas in Chester County, Pa., according to the Daily Local News. “You are a coward. In 18 years on the bench I have never had such tangible evidence of someone’s moral compass being so askew.”

Baker did apologize. Eventually. But not before a chain of events unspooled that made him one of the most widely and publicly disparaged criminals in the region in years.

It began when Baker didn't show up for his initial court hearing. The public was already calling for his head, the cries only grew louder as the US Marshals led a two week long manhunt for Baker around Chester County.

During that time, other details about his past and his family began to come out. Apparently, he had stolen flags from veterans graves, according to court documents. His rap sheet went on: accusations of theft, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and more.

Baker had owned a Coatesville-based landscaping service, Baker's Tree Service. When the public put two and two together, they flooded the Yelp review section of the business, giving it hundreds of one star ratings.

Marshals ultimately tracked Baker to a hotel in Exton in June, where it turned out he had holed up with the assistance of his fiancée. She was charged with obstruction of justice. But that was not the end of Baker and his family in the headlines.

In late June, Baker's father, Barry Baker Sr., was one of 46 individuals arrested as part of Operation Wildfire, a massive drug bust that targeted sales of heroin, meth, crack cocaine, and other lethal drugs in every part of Chester County.

Later, he was injured in an altercation in state prison. In an interview with the Daily Local News, he then said the man with cerebral palsy who he'd punched had been acting inappropriate toward a woman earlier in the night at a nearby bar, sparking the confrontation.

Baker pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and flight to avoid apprehension in September.

Judge William P. Mahon handed down the sentence on Baker on Wednesday. Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Morgan prosecuted the case.

See Patch's full coverage of this case below:

• Barry Baker's Trial Delayed
• Barry Baker Wants His Side Told
• Video: Suspect Mocks, Then Sucker Punches Man With Cerebral Palsy
• Suspect Accused In Chester County Beating Of Man Draws National Fury
• Suspect Who Attacked Man With Cerebral Palsy In West Chester Also Stole From Military Graves
• Barry Baker Captured In Chester County Hotel By U.S. Marshals
• Father Of Barry Baker Among 46 Arrested In Massive Drug Bust

Image via screenshot of video from West Chester Police Department