Panthers fan pleads guilty to bloodying the face of another fan

A Carolina Panthers fan who bloodied the face of another fan at the Panthers-Philadelphia Eagles game in October pleaded guilty to simple assault on Tuesday and must serve 10 days in jail, media outlets reported.

Another fan captured the assault on video, which went viral. The Thursday night game was at Bank of America Stadium.

A judge sentenced Kyle Adam Maraghy to 45 days in jail, which the judge suspended pending Maraghy completing 1 1/2 years of supervised probation, Observer news partner WBTV reported.

As conditions of his probation, he must serve 10 days in jail, attend anger management classes, get a substance abuse assessment and comply with treatment, WBTV reported.

A video of the encounter shot by fan Warren Carrigan at the Oct. 12 game shows a fan in a black Cam Newton jersey turning around and rapidly punching a seated fan several times. Blood quickly streams down the seated fan’s face.

Carrigan said on Facebook that the two men argued and that a woman and her son, seated between them, left in the third quarter. Carrigan said in his post the man who eventually was punched wasn’t happy that the other man and his girlfriend stood in front of him throughout the game. The two men exchanged more words before the seated fan was punched.

“The dude took offense to the couple never sitting down and obstructing his view,” Carrigan said in his post.

The Panthers reviewed the tape and identified the man in the video, the team said in a statement after the attack.

The victim, a 62-year-old man who has not been publicly identified, was treated for minor injuries in the stadium, police said.

Maraghy pleaded guilty to felony drug possession in Watauga County in 2010 and received a suspended sentence, court records show. He lived in Mooresville at the time.

He also received a prayer for judgment on a misdemeanor larceny charge in Iredell County in 2009 and was ordered to stay away from Walmart, records show. A prayer for judgment means a final judgment of conviction is not recorded in a case.

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Panthers fan pleads guilty to bloodying the face of another fan."