Omar Shabazz Thomas
A college student will spend at least three months on house arrest for beating a man who took the last crab legs from a buffet line last year.
Omar Shabazz Thomas, 21, also will serve a year on probation for attacking Michael Lopatic on Aug. 14 inside Star Buffet in East Lampeter Township, a judge ordered.
A Lancaster County jury convicted Thomas on Thursday of assault and disorderly conduct. The panel heard testimony this week of how Thomas verbally insulted Lopatic about his weight, then tackled and repeatedly punched the man.
Lopatic, 48, emptied a container of crab legs from a buffet station while others waited in line, according to trial testimony.
"I learned my lesson," Thomas, dressed in a yellow shirt and bow tie, said at sentencing Friday. "I should never have said anything. I should have just taken my plate of food — crabs or not — and sat down."
Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker scolded the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology student for spoiling a Sunday evening dinner for many families inside the restaurant.
Reinaker told Thomas he disrespected and humiliated a man nearly three times his age.
Respect is "earned by waiting, patiently, for the next batch of crab legs," Reinaker said. "It's not earned by the use of yours fists."
Lopatic, a former Marine, sustained a gash on his forehead and two broken ribs in the beating, according to testimony.
He testified that he was confronted by Thomas after taking the last eight pieces of crab from a buffet station. Thomas' girlfriend was behind Lopatic in line.
Reinaker called Thomas' behavior "abominable."
He ordered Thomas to 3 to 12 months on house arrest, followed by a year of probation. Thomas also must pay $473 to replace Lopatic's broken eyeglasses.
"The fact that he was perfectly free to take as many crab legs as he wanted made no difference to you," Reinaker told Thomas, a business major and football player at Stevens. "You decided you were the one who had the moral authority to decide what was right."
After hearing the sentence, Thomas tilted his head and quietly answered Reinaker's questions.
Thomas' mother told the judge she didn't raise her kids to act as Thomas did on Aug. 14.
"I've told him this is a lesson learned," Rita Thomas said.
Omar Thomas said he's never been in trouble before and regrets his decisions from that day.
"I embarrassed my family and myself," he said.
Reinaker said he couldn't imagine being inside the restaurant and having to witness such a disruption.
"You put a gash on his forehead, broke his glasses, two of his ribs and, as was clear from his testimony, humiliated him in public in front of his family," Reinaker said.
Reinaker suggested that Thomas reacted to impress his girlfriend.
"You felt your girlfriend had been disrespected and that's what caused your blood to boil," he said. "And so you, the macho football player, decided to confront this person. And you did so loudly and profanely."
