LINCOLN PARK -- A former borough man was sentenced today to 300 days in jail for striking a man in the head with a small baseball bat after the victim had a verbal dispute with teenagers making noise on a street.
Karim Anzour, 23, now of Passaic County, previously pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident that occurred on Aug. 17 in Lincoln Park, authorities said.
Anzour, who was seeking probation without any jail time, also was sentenced in Superior Court in Morristown to three years of probation by Judge Salem Ahto.
“We’re not vigilantes,”�� Ahto told Anzour. “There’s no justification for your conduct.”��
The incident occurred after Anzour’s 15-year-old brother and another 15-year-old teenager were making noise on the street outside the home of the victim, Steve Nelson, according to today’s court proceeding. Nelson then went outside and asked the teens to leave.
Anzour said his younger brother then called him, and Anzour went to the scene to defend the teenager. Defense attorney Ronald Fava said things got out of hand because Nelson was drinking and came at Anzour with a pen, calling the attack by Anzour “out of character.”��
“That’s not me,”�� Anzour said to the judge. “I definitely regret what I have done.”��
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Brian DiGiacomo, who argued for 364 days in jail with lengthy probation, said, “This was not a fight. This was an assault,”�� noting Anzour hit Nelson repeatedly with a small souvenir bat on the head.
Nelson, who required 17 staples to close a gash on the back of his head, showed the judge the blood-stained T-shirt he was wearing during the assault. Nelson's wife called police after witnessing the attack.
His family now lives in fear, he said.
“My wife was forced to witness this incident and was the true victim here,”�� Nelson said. “The idea that he was coming to someone’s defense is laughable.”��
The judge agreed, telling Anzour he could have walked away and shouldn’t have gone to the home in the first place.
“You came back with a bat you know you wielded as a club,”�� Ahto said.
Anzour was also sentenced to pay $1,179 in restitution and have no contact with the victims.
