04/12/2025
Here is the full statement we submitted to LNP, for transparency’s sake.
Mr. Toomey is grateful for the opportunity to participate in a program where successful completion entitles him to have his record expunged. He is thankful to the District Attorney’s Office for giving him that opportunity and he looks forward to putting this matter behind him.
While he has chosen to take part in the ARD program in lieu of taking on the expense and risk of a jury trial, there are several things we wish to address from the original article run by LNP last June. Specifically, the article framed this incident as an altercation where the alleged victim was “attacked” or “assaulted” based upon comments he made disparaging the Philadelphia Phillies. This is untrue. The incident arose from the alleged victim hurling derogatory slurs at Mr. Toomey and the people he was with, including his wife. Furthermore, our review of video evidence that captured the events in question painted a much different picture than what the criminal complaint and the LNP article presented.
Mr. Toomey maintains his innocence- that’s the beauty of the ARD program. It’s an alternative resolution where participants aren’t required to admit any wrongdoing in order to participate in the program. While he is a proud and lifelong fan of the Philadelphia Phillies (and all Philadelphia teams, in general), this incident was not a dispute about the team’s performance. While we recognize that a story about people getting into a fight over their favorite sports team is more appealing to a newspaper and its readers, that simply wasn’t the case here.
Two men charged with assaulting a man after police said he made disparaging remarks about the Philadelphia Phillies last May entered a probation program to resolve their criminal cases.
