LI Family Hoping Witnesses To Brutal Beating Will Come Forward

HOLBROOK, NY — A determined Long Island mom has been on a mission to locate witnesses to the brutal attack that landed her son in the intensive care unit of Stony Brook University Hospital with a brain bleed and multiple head fractures.

“Somebody had to see this happen,” said Valerie DeGennaro, who has shared details of the attack on social media to glean more information from anyone who might have seen the attack.

Sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. on June 12, Ryan DeGennaro, 26, was standing on line outside of The Irish Times, a pub and restaurant located in a shopping center in Holbrook, with his younger sister, when he heard a commotion and went to see what was going on, he told Patch.

A bouncer yelled at two young men who were involved in a fight and they confused the bouncer's voice for Ryan's. “‘I was like, 'No, it wasn't me,'” he recalled.

But that did not seem to sit well with the pair, and they attacked him, Ryan said.

One of the men wrapped a belt around his hand and punched Ryan on his cheekbone. Ryan lost his balance and fell back into a concrete wall, then hit the ground and lost consciousness, he said. The second man then began to repeatedly kick him in the head as he lay there while his sister screamed, he continued.

“There was my son laying in a pool of blood,” Valerie said, adding that “it was over something stupid.”

The Suffolk County Police Department's Public Information bureau would not specifically address DeGennaro's assault, citing policy identifying the victims of violence. The office said the 5th Precinct Crime Section officers are investigating an assault that took place outside 975 Main St. in Holbrook, the location of the pub, on June 12 around 12:30 a.m.

A police spokeswoman declined to release any further details due to the “active investigation.”

When contacted for comment, an owner of The Irish Times said he was not aware of the fight, that the establishment would have an incident report on file and requested more time to look into the matter.

“He could have been killed,” Valerie said. “It’s horrible what the world has come to.”

"I don't remember the whole ambulance ride or anything, and after that, I was in and out [of consciousness]," Ryan said.

He was told afterward that a neighbor tried to help him by rolling up his jacket and placing it under his head.

“I am really grateful for that kid,” he said.

Ryan was transported to the hospital where he was treated in the ICU for bleeding in his brain, multiple fractures to his skull, a fractured cheekbone and orbital socket, broken bones in his ear and his perforated eardrum.

Fortunately, he never lost consciousness again. He was awake when his mother arrived at his hospital bedside, otherwise, she said she would have been more worried.

In a brief comedic moment, she made light of the fact that he believed he was a Jedi of “Star Wars” fame.

“I said, ‘Ryan, you are not a Jedi,’” Valerie recalled. “‘If you were a Jedi knight then you would have won this one.’”

Ryan, whose brain bleed has now stopped, spent nearly one week in the hospital before returning home to his family and needed to take some time off from his position as a volunteer with a political campaign in Queens.

He is still experiencing muffled hearing and has issues with his balance, but neurologically he is sound, and he is slowly on the mend.

“I am so grateful for that,” he said.

Valerie said since the attack, she feels as though she has lost all sense of time and has been unable to keep up with what day it is.

With her active plea on social media, she is still hoping that witnesses will get the courage to come forward. She presumes in the current climate, people, in general, might be frightened away from providing information because good Samaritans have been killed in the past for doing the same thing.

“People think of that and they don’t want to take a chance,” she said.

Still, Valerie remains hopeful and is very grateful that her son did not succumb to his injuries, something she credits to her faith in God.

“I pray to God,” she said, adding, “We are very lucky. It could have been much worse.”

Suffolk police are asking anyone who might have witnessed DeGennaro's beating to call the 5th Precinct Crime Section at 631-854-8526, or Crime Stoppers, a confidential police hotline, at 1800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.