A South Jersey man has been charged with brutally beating a teen in a caught-on-video attack that has gone viral on the Internet.
Paul Anthony "Tony" Cojocaru, 26, of National Park, New Jersey, was charged Monday with aggravated assault and terroristic threats for the beating earlier this month in West Deptford, police said.
West Deptford Police Chief Samuel DiSimone said the 17-year-old boy was sleeping on a couch at a friend's home when, around 4 a.m., Cojocaru came in and got into an argument with him.
The dispute escalated to physical violence, with Cojocaru punching, slapping and kicking the teen. The assault was recorded by another person in the room and posted to Facebook.
Cojocaru was arraigned on $50,000 bail. It wasn't immediately clear whether he retained an attorney.
DiSimone said Cojocaru and his girlfriend hang out with the victim and his friends, ranging in age from 15 to 17 years old, and had been at the home earlier in the night for a party. The homeowner was not home at the time.
DiSimone said it appeared Cojocaru beat the teen for "no reason."
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The victim did not report the assault because he was embarrassed and scared, the chief said. The teen lied to his father the following day when asked about bruises on his body.
"The victim is the nicest kid you ever met," DiSimone said.
Police began investigating the case when the video went viral online. One copy of the video, shared with the hashtag #STOPBULLYING2016, had over 42,000 comments within a week of being posted.
