D.A.'s office to review new video of LOVE Park altercation

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said this week that it would "carefully review" new video footage purporting to show a confrontation last month between a LOVE Park ranger and a teenager.

Curtis Tanner, 19, of Pottstown, faces charges of aggravated assault and related offenses in connection with the Aug. 15 incident. He is accused of assaulting a park ranger who had told him to leave because he was skateboarding - which is prohibited in the park.

A visitor to the park posted video of the encounter, showing the ranger on the ground, being punched and kicked while several others watched. Tanner was later arrested at his mother's Pottstown home.

The ranger testified at a preliminary hearing that he did not provoke the attack and did not fight back during the altercation.

The new footage posted online last week, first reported by the Philadelphia Daily News, shows a confrontation between a man in the park and a ranger who raises his fists and swings at the man.

The Daily News reported that the men in the video "appear[ed] to be Tanner" and Erron Williams, the ranger. Williams viewed the video in an interview Wednesday with Fox29.

"Williams says he was just trying to defend himself and the video changes nothing," the station reported.

The new video, posted on an Instagram account named "loveparkphiladelphia," was captioned "lock 'em both up #lovepark" and did not provide details on who was shown in the video or when the footage was recorded.

Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, said in a statement that no one in the office had seen the video until the Daily News brought it to prosecutors' attention.

"We will carefully review the video and all other information in this case," she said, "and proceed accordingly.'

Samuel DiMatteo, Tanner's attorney, said his client - who is incarcerated on a $10,000 bond - had not seen the new video and could not comment on it. DiMatteo said he has seen the video and has spoken to Tanner about the footage, but could not authenticate it.

DiMatteo said he believed "the interaction was more confrontational" than prosecutors have portrayed it.

"I'm hoping that with this new video, the D.A. will reevaluate how they are handling the case," he said.

DiMatteo said he planned to file a motion to quash the charges against his client.

City spokesman Mark McDonald said he could not comment on an active legal case.