Phillies fan charged in vomiting on man at game is jailed

On April 14, Matthew Clemmens sat for the mug shot seen round the world - bug-eyed, black-eyed, the supposed avatar of the unruly Philadelphia sports fan.

On Friday, two months after pleading guilty to intentionally vomiting on an off-duty police officer and his family at a Phillies game, the Cherry Hill man dubbed "Pukémon" by national media stood stone-faced as he learned his fate: 30 to 90 days in jail, two years' probation, and 50 hours of community service - to be fulfilled, Common Pleas Court Judge Kevin Dougherty suggested, through custodial work at Citizens Bank Park.

"You have invaded the opportunity to enjoy the American pastime of baseball," Dougherty said before announcing the sentence. "You struck out."

Clemmens, 21, pleaded guilty May 25 to simple assault and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors, and harassment, a summary offense.

He and three friends had drunkenly heckled Michael Vangelo, an off-duty police captain from Easton, Pa., and his two daughters - ages 15 and 11 - during the second game of the Phillies' home-opener series against the Washington Nationals in April.

After one member of Clemmens' group was ejected from the ballpark by security - at Vangelo's request - Clemmens left briefly, according to a statement prepared by Assistant District Attorney Patrick Doyle and agreed to by Clemmens. He later returned to the seats, taking a phone call, before declaring, "I gotta do what I gotta do. I'm going to get sick."

Clemmens then stuck a finger down his throat and vomited, striking Vangelo and the area in front of his daughters' seats, about 15 rows from the visitors' dugout.

As the girls fled from Clemmens - the 15-year-old consoling her sobbing sibling "like a mother," Vangelo said Friday - Clemmens accosted Vangelo with "four or five right hooks" near his left ear, bloodying his face. Vangelo did not fight back, he testified, because he did not want to risk being taken into custody in Philadelphia with his daughters so far from their Easton home.

His younger daughter refuses to return to the park or even discuss the incident, Vangelo added.

Before Vangelo spoke Friday, Phillies representative Salvatore DeAngelis had testified about the public relations hit suffered by the organization as a result of Clemmens' actions.

Defense attorney Richard Hark, meanwhile, drew from the dozen or so supporters in attendance to vouch for Clemmens' character. He was a March of Dimes volunteer, friends said, and an assistant coach of his younger brother's Little League team. Clemmens' grandfather William took a 27-hour train ride from Florida to speak on his behalf.

At one point, as the attorneys met with Dougherty privately, 11-year-old Michael Clemmens made his way across the courtroom to sit next to his brother, resting his head on the defendant's right shoulder until Dougherty returned from his chambers.

Finally, Hark called Clemmens' parents before the judge.

"My son is not this kind of kid," Gary Clemmens said, turning to face Vangelo. "I'm sorry."

The family's courier service, the elder Clemmens added, had lost much of its business - plunging into bankruptcy a couple months back - as his son's behavior went public.

In his own statement, Matthew Clemmens, too, apologized to Vangelo and his daughters, as well as "the people who sell beer, the people who help you to your seats, and the people who had to clean up [his] vomit" at Citizens Bank Park.

"My parents did not raise me in this manner," he said. "Nobody ever ruined games for me and my dad."

Gary and Sandy Clemmens stood beside their son, fighting back tears, as Dougherty announced his sentence shortly before noon.

Clemmens' girlfriend, seated in back, shrieked at the first mention of "incarceration" during Dougherty's remarks. She struggled to muffle sobs again moments later, as officers cuffed Clemmens in the court room.

"You have singularly identified yourself [as] 'heartless,'" Dougherty said, referring to a tattoo on Clemmens' forearm. "Your apology, I believe, is feigned."

As Clemmens was escorted from the courtroom, his girlfriend approached young Michael - slumped alone in a row of chairs while his parents stood weeping - and rested her head on his shoulder.