250-pound man convicted of punching 11-year-old girl at an NC mall, officials say
A 51-year-old, 250-pound man has been convicted of assaulting young girls at a North Carolina mall, officials say.
David Steven Bell pleaded guilty on Monday to assault on a child under 12 for punching an 11-year-old, and one count of assault on a female for pushing a 13-year-old during an altercation outside the Asheville Mall in January, according to the Buncombe County Clerk’s Office.
A second assault on a female charge was dropped, the office said.
Bell, of Black Mountain, was arrested Jan. 12 outside the Asheville Mall after a fight broke out and he was accused of punching an 11-year-old and pushing two 13-year-olds, the Charlotte Observer reported in January.
He is described as 6-feet 5-inches tall and 250 pounds in an incident report, according to the Citizen Times.
A short video of the altercation obtained by the Charlotte Observer shows him push one of the girls and then punch her in the face.
Several other videos of the incident were posted on YouTube, including one that has been viewed almost 260,000 times and shows a group of teens appear to taunt Bell near an entrance before he punched the girl.
Footage of the incident sparked outrage against Bell along with criticism toward the teens who “appeared early on to be taunting him,” the Charlotte Observer reported.
It’s unclear what caused the altercation or if the girl was seriously hurt, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Bell’s court costs and fines total $530, and he will have to participate in counseling with anger management and in a racial justice workshop within 90 days, according to the clerk’s office.
He was also sentenced to a “60-day suspended sentence” and was put on probation for 12 months, District Attorney Todd Williams told the Citizen Times.
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 1:07 PM.
