Source: Keloland Television Author: Ben Dunsmore
Peter Steeves (laguardianangels.org) Note: Train Smarter than you do now. There is NO excuse for training that will condemn you. Now we know better. If you belong to social media groups with “tough-guy” labels and proudly walk around with more “tough-guy” t-shirts, and post internet photos and videos of your “tough-guy” skills … then defending yourself in court is going to be whole lot more difficult than defending yourself against violence.
WATERTOWN, SD – An early morning bar fight in Watertown two weeks ago has resulted in a murder investigation.
A mixed martial arts instructor is accused of beating 26-year-old Justin Jaton outside a Watertown bar. Jaton, who was hospitalized in Sioux Falls, died Thursday morning.
28-year-old Jerrin Stulken is now facing murder and manslaughter charges. Court documents say Stulken hit Jaton in the face on March 13 and knocked him unconscious. Investigators say Stulken continued to hit Jaton. Even after two surgeries, Jaton never regained consciousness and died Thursday morning.
“There’s nobody that’s going to win in this deal. It’s just a good example of why not to get involved in those bar fights and how quickly they can turn bad and how serious the consequences are going to come of it,” Watertown Police Sergeant Tim Toomey said.
Stulken is listed as a trainer on the Disciples of Combat Facebook page. It’s a mixed martial arts group in Watertown. Stulken is identified in pictures taking part in one of their workouts.
Now Stulken is charged with murder because investigators say he beat Jaton so badly that the 26-year-old man died. A death police say could have been prevented.
“Violence is never the answer and that one punch will change the rest of your life and it’s better to walk away from that,” Toomey said.
Stulken was charged with aggravated assault after the initial fight two weeks ago. He’s been out on bail since then, but was arrested Thursday morning and is now being held on a half-million dollar bond.
Peter’s Note:
I have a very close friend and Guardian Angel who ended up in the Intensive Care Unit because of a bad fall in the middle of helping break up an enormous fight in Hollywood. But it didn’t happen from losing a fight – he got pushed while on the way to help somebody else, and had simple bad luck in how he landed. Do you really imagine that your killer tough-guy training is prepared to NOT hurt somebody, even by mistake?
If you’re not thinking about this critical factor, IT’S TIME TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING. Stop training to end up in jail. Lose the attitude, and make all your neighbors think you’re the nicest person they’ve ever met. It may not fix everything, but it certainly won’t add to the problem thoughtless training can create.
Personally, I think it’s even WORSE if you’re a Guardian Angel. You KNOW you’re going to face some violence on a Safety Patrol. So prepare as well as possible for how you want it to end up. Have a list of goals, in priority order. Try this one, off the top of my head:
Peter Steeves (laguardianangels.org) Note: Train Smarter than you do now. There is NO excuse for training that will condemn you. Now we know better. If you belong to social media groups with “tough-guy” labels and proudly walk around with more “tough-guy” t-shirts, and post internet photos and videos of your “tough-guy” skills … then defending yourself in court is going to be whole lot more difficult than defending yourself against violence.
WATERTOWN, SD – An early morning bar fight in Watertown two weeks ago has resulted in a murder investigation.
A mixed martial arts instructor is accused of beating 26-year-old Justin Jaton outside a Watertown bar. Jaton, who was hospitalized in Sioux Falls, died Thursday morning.
28-year-old Jerrin Stulken is now facing murder and manslaughter charges. Court documents say Stulken hit Jaton in the face on March 13 and knocked him unconscious. Investigators say Stulken continued to hit Jaton. Even after two surgeries, Jaton never regained consciousness and died Thursday morning.
“There’s nobody that’s going to win in this deal. It’s just a good example of why not to get involved in those bar fights and how quickly they can turn bad and how serious the consequences are going to come of it,” Watertown Police Sergeant Tim Toomey said.
Stulken is listed as a trainer on the Disciples of Combat Facebook page. It’s a mixed martial arts group in Watertown. Stulken is identified in pictures taking part in one of their workouts.
Now Stulken is charged with murder because investigators say he beat Jaton so badly that the 26-year-old man died. A death police say could have been prevented.
“Violence is never the answer and that one punch will change the rest of your life and it’s better to walk away from that,” Toomey said.
Stulken was charged with aggravated assault after the initial fight two weeks ago. He’s been out on bail since then, but was arrested Thursday morning and is now being held on a half-million dollar bond.
Peter’s Note:
I have a very close friend and Guardian Angel who ended up in the Intensive Care Unit because of a bad fall in the middle of helping break up an enormous fight in Hollywood. But it didn’t happen from losing a fight – he got pushed while on the way to help somebody else, and had simple bad luck in how he landed. Do you really imagine that your killer tough-guy training is prepared to NOT hurt somebody, even by mistake?
If you’re not thinking about this critical factor, IT’S TIME TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING. Stop training to end up in jail. Lose the attitude, and make all your neighbors think you’re the nicest person they’ve ever met. It may not fix everything, but it certainly won’t add to the problem thoughtless training can create.
Personally, I think it’s even WORSE if you’re a Guardian Angel. You KNOW you’re going to face some violence on a Safety Patrol. So prepare as well as possible for how you want it to end up. Have a list of goals, in priority order. Try this one, off the top of my head:
- Bad guy goes home
- Bad guy gets handcuffed
- Bad guy needs a band-aid, and gets handcuffed
- Bad guy needs a hospital, but you’re clearly the “good-guy”
- Bad guy needs a hospital, and you’ll be in court soon (you’re probably handcuffed)
- Bad guy needs nothing, ever again … and you will be in court, and handcuffed
Looking for some patrol, group and partner tactics for arrest and control tactics: see guardianangeltrainng