A surgeon testified that Troy Harris was “borderline comatose” when he arrived at Allegheny General Hospital late one night last spring.
“In essence,” Dr. Benjamin Kautza said of Harris’ injuries when he arrived at the Pittsburgh hospital, “his entire mid-face was fractured.”
Kautza was called by Washington County prosecutors as the first witness in the jury trial of Joseph Olinsky III, 46, and Matthew Vasquez, 31. The two members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club are charged with crimes including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit. They are accused of participating in the April 18 beating of Harris, a former member, in a social club in Charleroi.
The beating occurred about 10 p.m. in the Charleroi Slovak Club, 700 McKean Ave. Surveillance footage of the bar area shows seven members of the Pagans entering and approaching. Within seconds, Vasquez and another man punch Harris as he reaches out for a handshake. The group appears to kick him once Harris falls to the floor, out of the camera’s line of sight.
His wife, Michele Harris, testified previously she was present and tried to protect her husband.
Deputy District Attorney Jason Walsh told jurors that Troy Harris – who turned 54 in November – had left the Pagans at some point and joined Sutars Soldiers, a rival outlaw biker club started by a former Pagan leader.
“That’s like committing treason to the Pagans,” Walsh said. He went on to assert that the beating was retaliatory.
Stephen Colafella, Vasquez’s court-appointed attorney, said his client had been attracted to the club because of the brotherhood it offered him. He’d been a member for years with no problems. Colafella said Vasquez had run into Harris, who lived in Fallowfield, in the community without incident – even after the older man was expelled from the Pagans.
He also asked jurors to see keep an open mind about Vasquez’s guilt, instead of making assumptions based on witness testimony that’s expected to be part of the case and deals with the culture of the Pagans and similar groups.
“What you’re here to do is to determine what Matthew Vasquez’s legal culpability is,” Colafella said. “What crimes, if any, did he commit?”
Renee Colbert, Olinsky’s attorney, referred to her client by his nickname, “Teddy.” She said he had attended a club meeting and was hanging out with friends during the events that led up to the beating.
“This was a bar crawl that turned into a bar crawl,” she said. She mimed revving a motorcycle and made engine noises several times in her opening argument.
She said the government would use records of calls to and from a cellphone involving Zackary Yagnich that night, but there was no evidence her client was part of those calls. She also said he was not “part of any agreement” to harm Harris.
Yagnich, 27, was a supporter of the Pagans and vice president of the Slovak Club at the time of the beating. He previously testified that he informed members of the Pagans that Harris was in the bar before a group showed up and attacked Harris. He opened the door of the members-only building for them.
During Kautza’s time on the stand, the physician said Harris was flown to AGH by helicopter and stayed in the intensive care unit until he was discharged to a long-term care facility on May 6. Within the first day or two of the stay, he showed no vital signs. He had had to be revived by hospital staff, who spent 10 minutes giving him CPR and administering epinephrine. He remained on a ventilator for most of his time there. His ribs were broken during CPR.
His initial injuries were all from the collarbone up, Kautza said. They could have been caused by repeated kicks to the head, and included subdural hematoma – blood pooling to create pressure on the brain – fractured eye sockets and swelling on his face. He had a stroke at some point. His condition had improved by the time he was released to the care facility, but his injuries still affected his cognition and would likely result in permanent changes, Kautza said.
“But for medical intervention, he would have died?” Walsh asked at one point.
“Yes,” replied the surgeon.
Olinsky and Vasquez are denied bail and being held in the county jail. Their trial before Common Pleas Judge John DiSalle is expected go to the end of the week. Charleroi Regional police charged them in mid-July through court papers that were filed under seal for a time.
Of 12 people charged, they’re the only ones who have not taken plea deals or agreed to cooperate with law enforcement in exchange for leniency. Vasquez’s former fiancée, Jamie Granato, 28, and Pagan member Paul Cochran, 55, are cooperating with prosecutors. So is James Baranoski, a 58-year-old private investigator and former state trooper who allegedly went to the Harrises’ on the Pagans’ behalf to bribe the couple to drop charges.
One government witness who’s not charged with any crimes is Heather Balsano. She said she was working in the bar earlier in the day when Yagnich contacted her using Snapchat. He mentioned he might stop by later, so she told him the Harrises were at the bar.
“I knew from past experience that he did not like to go in there when they were there,” Balsano said. So she told Yagnich the couple were there. When Colafella asked why exactly, she said she wasn’t sure.
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Source: Observer-Reporter