Bar Owner Beaten By Thieves In Chicopee
CHICOPEE (CBS) – A man was attacked and left for dead when he tried to scare off two men who broke into his bar in Chicopee. Police hope they can find the attackers by putting out the video of the crime.
With some spousal TLC, the angry gashes on Mario DoCarmo's face and head are beginning to heal thanks to a few dozen staples.
"Under the circumstances, I think I am doing OK," DoCarmo said.
OK, despite the beating inside the Chicopee bar he's owned for 15 years by thugs wielding a metal rod.
It was just before 5:00 a.m. Tuesday and Mario was still finishing up some paperwork in his basement office when he happened to glance over at the security monitor and notice that two guys had broken into the place.
The 64-year old bar owner attempted to scare them off.
"I just tried to confront them, that's the first instinct, to defend your property," DoCarmo said.
But when he interrupts the burglars exiting with the bar's lottery proceeds, they turn on him with fists, feet, and the metal rod, knocking him to the ground with the blows that would land Mario in the hospital.
"For all intents and purposes they left me for dead," DoCarmo said.
The injured bar owner's son had told dad countless times not to mess with armed robbers.
"I'm lucky to get 200 bucks out of him," Mario DoCarmo Jr. said. "He would have fought them right to the end."
Police are confident someone will identify the attackers.
"We are going to get these guys and put them behind bars where they belong," Officer Michael Wilk said.
Thing is, the intruders weren't done with Mario. They had resumed their hunt for stuff to steal when his effort to stagger to his feet spawned attack number two, grabbing his wallet in the process, something he now chuckles about.
"I don't carry money in my wallet," DoCarmo says. "So they missed out on that one too."
For now, the bar is open, but the boss is taking a few days off.
"I feel lucky," DoCarmo says.
