Elderly man recounts Gallery beating at suspect's hearing

John Gabel, a short, hunched, elderly man, testified for the first time yesterday about the September afternoon in which he was beaten unconscious inside a men's bathroom at the Gallery in Center City and robbed of $50.

Gabel, 84, a gentle-looking man with thinning white hair, relayed his story from the witness stand during a mere three minutes of questioning from the prosecution and defense.

He was testifying at the preliminary hearing of Jason Morgan, 23, one of two men arrested on charges of aggravated assault, robbery, conspiracy and related offenses in the beating, which occurred about 4:15 p.m. Sept. 10 in the crowded mall on Market Street near 9th.

A co-defendant, Joseph Peruto, 27, waived his preliminary hearing Dec. 1.

Yesterday, before Municipal Judge Joseph J. O'Neill, Gabel said he had been in a men's room in the Gallery, where "I had used the urinal and another guy was in back of me."

He said he thought the other man was about to use the urinal after him, but instead "I got hit in the head."

Asked by Assistant District Attorney Vince Regan what he had been hit with, Gabel said it was some type of "instrument." "It was hard. It knocked me to the ground."

"It just happened," Gabel said.

"I fell, then somebody found me. They took me to Jefferson."

It was after he had "come to" while at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital that he realized he was missing about $50 from his wallet, he testified.

He said he was released from the hospital the day after the attack.

Gabel said that he saw a second man enter the bathroom afterward and then a third man, who stood close to the bathroom door and "stood watch."

Under cross-examination, defense attorney Gary Feldman asked Gabel: "You did not see the guy that hit you?"

"I saw him come in. I saw the guy." Upon further questioning, he said: "I did not see the guy hit me."

After the hearing, prosecutor Regan said police were still investigating the possibility of a third suspect. He would not elaborate.

Morgan's preliminary hearing was postponed yesterday to Feb. 5 because an eyewitness in the case was unavailable. *