Brutal Baltimore attack caught on camera leaves man with vision loss, fractured nose
BALTIMORE -- A Federal Hill man said he lost vision in one eye after he was allegedly attacked while bringing home dinner on Saturday, November 23. WJZ obtained surveillance videos of the attack.
John Berardi said he was walking home with pizza around 11 p.m. when three young men approached him at the intersection of South Charles Street and East Fort Avenue, demanding his food.
Baltimore police responded to the reported attack by a group of unidentified Black men, one of whom was armed with a broom. Berardi believes his attackers may be teens or young men.
Berardi said police told him these suspects may have been involved in another attack that same night.
He told WJZ that since the attack, he no longer feels safe in his Federal Hill neighborhood.
"That's the perk of living in the city is you can walk to things and enjoy yourself and have a good time, but if that's gone then what's the point of living here?" Berardi asked. "I'm sure some would see this and say just leave and maybe that's what we do."
Videos of the attack
WJZ obtained surveillance video that shows three suspects wearing ski masks following Berardi, and then grabbing his pizza and attacking him.
"I was passing a group of younger-looking teens wearing ski masks," Berardi told WJZ. "They were holding brooms and a pole. I didn't notice them until I was basically in the intersection with them."
Berardi said as he was walking away, he was asked, "Hey, can I get some of that pizza?"
"I kind of just ignored it, just kept walking," he said. "I thought it was kind of over with."
But, it wasn't over.
Berardi said the group continued to threaten him, so he handed over the pizza and turned to walk away when one of the suspects swung and hit him in the face with a pole.
"I was like 'OK, calm down, just take the pizza. It's no big deal,'" Berardi said. "I was turning to walk away, and as I was turning to walk away, one of them just swung and hit me in the face with a metal pole."
Another video shows the suspects approach the victim, one with a metal pole and the other with a broom.
Video captured moments later shows what he believes are the suspects, one swinging that metal pole and walking casually down a nearby alley. Berardi believes the suspects are minors.
According to Berardi, the group ran off as he was bleeding and unable to see out of his right eye.
Berardi said it wasn't long before a group came out of a nearby house. He asked them for help, and they called the police and Berardi's fiancé, Chrissy Costill.
"Terrifying, it was completely shocking and didn't feel real at all," Costill said.
Severe Eye Injuries
After a night in the hospital and several follow-up visits, Berardi said doctors are unsure how much of his vision will be restored.
"It's not good," Berardi said. "I probably have about 10% vision in my right eye."
Berardi said he has a hole in his right eye that may not heal and a tear in his iris that will require surgery to fix. His nose was fractured and his forehead was injured in the attack.
"I found out, they did more thorough scans, there's a hole in my retina," Berardi said. "It's a 70% chance it heals. I don't know how much vision I will get back. It's a lot of bruising of the retina, swelling, a lot of blood in the eye."
45 minutes to respond
Berardi said it took about 45 minutes for police to respond.
"They kind of explained how they are reactionary, how they are spending a lot of their time catching these kids, kids who are doing these things, and they're just getting released the same day back to their parents and nothing is changing," Berardi said.
Police confirmed Berardi's account of what happened. They could not say whether the suspects are juveniles and have not made any arrests.
"You work here. You pay your taxes here. You contribute to the community here," Berardi said. "And when something terrible like this happens and you realize like cops don't come for 45 minutes, like they're never gonna catch these people. If they do, they'll just be back on the street. And then you're just stuck with the medical bill. And loss of eyesight. And for what? Where is justice? Where is any solution to this? Like there's no closure. It's just like it happened and that's what you get for living here."
His fiancée Chrissy Costill rushed to his side that night.
"Terrifying. It was completely shocking and did not feel real at all. I could not believe it. It was completely jarring and just terrifying," Costill said. "As I was arriving and seeing the ambulance lights, that's when it really hit me that this is real and that's my fiancé in there. It was very, very scary."
Making sense of the attack
Berardi is struggling to understand why the group attacked him.
"Was there another reason behind it? I don't know. Is it just fun to do for somebody, is it part of something bigger? I don't know," Berardi said.
"Why do I still have my phone and my wallet," he added. "I didn't really understand that. I still don't understand it."
Police said no arrests have been made in this case.
Juvenile Crime in Baltimore
If Berardi learned anything from that night, it was the severity of juvenile crime in the city.
According to Berardi, police said they are searching for the suspects, but mentioned that in some cases, juveniles are released back to their parents or guardians instead of being held.
"I don't think I was aware it was as bad as it is," Berardi said. "I assumed that if you did something like this to somebody there was consequences in some capacity, even if you were a juvenile. The fact that you can do something like this and not get caught, or even get caught and get released, which is even worse, that's a major problem."
Baltimore City has seen a surge in juvenile crime this year.
A video posted to Nextdoor shows a recent incident in Fells Point where police said a 13-year-old stole a man's phone after he came to the assistance of his wife when juveniles tried to light her hair on fire during a confrontation over vandalism.
And there have been several carjackings of elderly victims. Carjackings involving juvenile suspects are up more than 200% in Baltimore compared to this time last year. Robberies involving juveniles are up 44%.
According to Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates, juvenile crime arrests are up 146% compared to 2023.
"We have to hold young people accountable," Bates said. "Holding young people accountable deters young people from this action, but we want to steer them to the services that they truly do need."
Bates recently pointed to truancy as part of the reason for the spike in youth crime.
City and state officials have been working to address the surge, and a new Maryland law that went into effect on November 1 made it possible for children between ages 10 and 12 to be charged with illegal gun possession, car theft and sexual offenses.
According to Bates, the new law increases transparency and accountability within the juvenile justice system.
Berardi said he hopes his attackers are caught and held accountable.
"You're too young to pay the consequences but you can go around are wreak havoc on the city," Berardi said. "I think that's a huge problem. I think it would be great to raise awareness and if I can push in any way to make a change and get some of this cleaned up, would be like amazing."
