A man assaulted and choked by a Los Angeles firefighter will receive $7.4 million in a lawsuit settlement. (istock)
A California graduate student choked to the point of unconsciousness by a group of men claiming he laced Halloween candy with drugs reportedly settled his lawsuit for $7.4 million on Wednesday as part of a deal that meant the men didn't have to admit wrongdoing.
In 2015, Samuel Chang, then 22, was outside handing out Halloween candy while visiting his grandmother in the Chatsworth area when he said he was suddenly confronted by several men -- including two off-duty firefighters. The group reportedly said they were concerned about the stranger giving away candy and alleged that Chang roused their suspicions due to the way he was acting and his refusal to leave the area.
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A video taken from Chang’s phone showed the group of five men – including off-duty firefighter Michael Anthony Vitar, a former child actor known for his roles in “The Sandlot” and two “Mighty Ducks” movies – following Chang as he tried to walk away and captured their repeated accusations that Chang was trying to gift candy laced with illegal drugs to neighborhood children.
Another video, shot by a bystander, showed the group surrounding Chang before firefighter Eric Carpenter, who lived nearby, placed the then-graduate student in a chokehold that lasted at least six minutes while the other men held Chang down, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Chang eventually lost consciousness and went limp. His attackers tried to revive him, but he ended up having to be rushed to a hospital, where he remained for several weeks.
Chang's attorney, David Ring, said Chang suffered a traumatic brain injury from the assault and continues to experience chronic headaches as a result. Chang now also has trouble reading and processing information, Ring said.
Carpenter was charged with felony assault in 2017 and could have faced up to seven years in prison, but he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault.
Vitar and a neighbor of Carpenter’s, Thomas Molnar, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery. The two other men weren’t criminally charged and none of the men served jail time. Carpenter and Vitar kept their jobs as firefighters -- but were suspended for six months without pay.
In 2017, Chang sued the five men, accusing them of assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligence and international infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was dismissed Monday after the settlement was reached.
"Samuel was brutally beaten by these thugs," Ring said in a statement Wednesday. "The civil settlement provides him with some justice for what he endured. Yet we remain incredibly disappointed that the district attorney's office failed to hold the defendants accountable for this horrific attack."
Ring said the five men didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing.
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Carpenter's attorney in the criminal case, Michael A. Goldstein, said he spoke to the firefighter Wednesday.
"This has been a very traumatic and trying time for both Mr. Carpenter and his family. He would prefer to put all of this behind him," Goldstein said. "He wishes Mr. Chang the best in all his future endeavors."
Vitar, who is married and has three children, started acting when he was 12 after a casting agent spotted him at a school carnival, according to his IMDB profile. During the 1990s he appeared in movies such as “The Sandlot,” “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” and “D3: The Mighty Ducks.” His last credited acting job was on “Chicago Hope” in 1997. He became a firefighter in 2002.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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