Sucker-Punching Lowlife Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Man With Cerebral Palsy

Photo courtesy of the Chester County District Attorney’s office

Barry Baker – the former Coatesville loser whom you’ll remember for mocking and sucker-punching an innocent man with cerebral palsy back in May – pleaded guilty on Monday to simple assault and flight from apprehension charges stemming from his attack on Michael Ryan, according to multiple outlets.

The 29-year-old self-employed landscaper’s pleas came just hours before a jury was to be selected for his trial at the Chester County Court of Common Pleas. The case against Baker stalled last week when he couldn’t come to an agreement with the prosecution on facts pertaining to the assault, which occurred in front of a 7-Eleven franchise in West Chester during the early morning hours of May 10. A surveillance camera captured the entire disturbing exchange:

At a pre-trial hearing last week, Baker maintained that he and Ryan had first scuffled earlier in the night after meeting at a bar, but later abandoned those claims when he was unable to provide evidence backing up his account.

“It was really unbelievable that he would be as stupid to think that somebody’s gonna buy that story when there’s facts and video that proves otherwise,” Patrick Ryan, the 22-year-old victim’s father, told CBS3. “I don’t know what he was trying to do by backing into a corner like that, I didn’t understand what he was doing, but as they say it’s hard to fix stupid.”

After posting bail following the assault, two additional arrest warrants for parole and probation violations were issued for Baker, who then skipped town. He was apprehended by U.S. Marshals at a hotel in Exton and charged with flight from apprehension.

Baker’s sentencing on the two charges will come at a later date. He’s facing up to four years in prison.

Follow @jtrinacria on Twitter.