Thug who beat NYC pizzeria manager into coma nearly derails sentencing with unhinged rant blaming victim

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The brute who beat a Manhattan pizzeria manager unconscious in a senseless attack nearly derailed his own plea deal Thursday — when he brazenly started blaming the victim, infuriating the judge. Tyshaun Watson, who had pleaded guilty in exchange for a promised 17-year prison sentence, launched into a wild rant during the Manhattan Supreme Court hearing, claiming he’d been “provoked” before he pummeled pizza-maker Zakaira El Sherief. “I was being provoked… if you watch the video,” he railed — until Judge Laura Ward interrupted and shot back at him that “Maybe we should go to trial on this and let the jury decide.” Watson, 36, continued to bizarrely claim that “facts” from surveillance footage of the of the Aug. 19, 2024 assault inside Roma Pizza in the Flatiron District proved the poor employee had instigated a fight. “If we play the video, you’re going to trial and looking at 25 years,” the judge threatened, before eventually playing the footage for the courtroom. “You were the first one to go behind the counter. He did not come out to get you,” a seething Ward snapped at him. Indeed, the footage showed a wobbly Watson walking into the eatery with his black pit bull unleashed, then ordering two slices of pizza and a drink and taking a seat in the back of the restaurant. The manager was seen coming over to him three times to speak, apparently telling him he could not have a dog without a leash inside the pizzeria. Watson eventually picked up his slices and walked to the counter at front of the restaurant, where El Sherief packed the pizza in a to-go box, before the two appeared to start yapping at each other. Watson then walks behind the counter, punches the victim and wrestles him to the ground — where he then starts to pummel him as his dog begins attacking the pair, the footage shows. El Sherief eventually was able to get himself up and out of the pizzeria, where he attempted to block the doors to prevent his assailant from getting away — but Watson pushed his way through and began the vicious beating again, tackling the victim to the ground. “The defendant stomped on the manager’s head, not once, but twice, as he laid unresponsive against the hard concrete,” Assistant District Attorney Nicole Borczyk said. The prosecutor said Watson became “irate” when the 47-year-old victim told him repeatedly that his pit bull wasn’t allowed inside the pizza parlor, prompting the horrific attack. The beating left El Sherief in a medically induced coma for two weeks. He ended up spending two months in the hospital for multiple fractures and brain bleeding, but has since been able to make a “miraculous recovery,” prosecutors said. Watson, who called the manager a “f–king b–ch” during the beatdown, initially claimed that “whiskey played a part” in the vicious assault, the judge noted, before letting him address the court at the dramatic sentencing hearing. After rewatching the video in court, Ward gave Watson another chance to avoid trial and to stick with the 17-year sentence settled upon as part of his plea agreement. Watson, who copped to two counts of assault in the first degree on Dec. 3, 2025, finally admitted to “absolutely” throwing the first punch before offering a half-hearted apology to the victim, who was not in court as expected because he was feeling ill, according to prosecutors. But Watson then began complaining about the length of his “excessive” sentence, complaining that it was more fit for a homicide — irking the judge even more. Prosecutors had initially recommended a sentence of 25 years behind bars.

Categories: Crime & Lawlessness

Tags: nyc crime