Cops identify alleged wedding brawler
The one party goer who was arrested and held overnight by police after an all-out brawl at a Society Hill wedding has been identified as Matthew Sofka, 26, of Westfield, N.J.
Cops identify alleged wedding brawler
The one party goer who was arrested and held overnight by police after an all-out brawl at a Society Hill wedding this weekend has been identified as Matthew Sofka, 26, of Westfield, N.J.
On his Facebook page, Sofka says that he likes Bud Light and "The Hangover II." Sofka spent much of his Sunday recovering from his own hangover in a prison cell, according to police.
Sofka was charged with assault on police, inciting a riot and related offenses for his part in a massive melee involving two wedding parties and police early Sunday morning at the Society Hill Sheraton.
Two other men, both in their late 20s, were give summary citations for disorderly conduct. Their names have not been released.
A man reported to be the uncle of the bride died of a heart attack following the fight. It's unclear if he was involved in any of the altercations.
Hotel guests estimated that between 50 and 100 cops showed up to control 50 to 100 party goers from two separate weddings who were fighting each other and amongst themselves for unknown reasons. Police and hotel guests said the fights appeared to be fueled by alcohol.
Max Schultz, 15, of Camp Hill, captured part of the melee on a video he posted to YouTube which, as of this morning, had more than 532,000 views.
In the video, a police officer can be seen hitting Sofka three times with his baton. Sofka was then Tasered off camera, according to police.
These people should be really proud of themselves.— Dave Clemens- bad week for philadelphia. a cop punches a woman, a teacher makes a stupid remark about a t-shirt, and a wedding brawl- all making national news. save the drama for your mama.
- Nice- another incident confirming the National perception of Philly: city of trash(includes the suburbs).— Northcountry
- 6 pages of posts blaming Philly/pa vs nj/s.jerseynor n.jersey. Who gives avrats arse? Cops shoulda waited outside until they were all done beating each other up.
— Mayfairnomo - I disagree Gumper...when there's a shooting in North Philly I don't associate the people from Packer Park with that shooting. But if you want to lump South jersey in with North Jersey...you go right ahead.— KarenD
- jersey is jersey - trash thru and thru. at least they weren't black - no one got shot— skiing68
- Since we Philadelphians never misbehave at the Jersey Shore, we can criticize anyone from Jersey without feeling hypocritical.— harbo
- There's a reason why noone pays to get into jersey, but they'll sure pay the bridge toll to get out.— Phillyburb
- Not police brutality. Police say break it up, you keep going, you get whats coming to you.....Rodney King wasnt brutality, the cops were innocent, remember?— audrina
- What a proud Man. His mother and father would be proud of him. He is the type of solid citizen that the city of philly or the state oF NJ needs. It is those criminal types who ruin the city and the state of NJ. Thank God he is such a stable and reliable citizen who obeys the law and respects other people's rights. Get those drunks and criminals away from Philly. Oh, I'm sorry he is one of them!!!— rduexpress
- He likes 'Bud Light' & 'Hangover 2'... I heard Sofka hates Hangover 1...— Apollo Creed
- the police should have beat harder and threw the trash toward camden. if you can't handle the alcohol, then don't drink...people with beer muscle, they never learn.— fairmount2010
@EastChestnut - No problem nut. Let's make that locked down in both directions. Should be a great summer at the shore without all you cockroaches around.- his family must be so proud of him - national news as the idiot at a wedding— mikey5432
- Keep the Jersey white trash out!— woody56
