From: Platte County Prosecuting Attorney "Eric Zahnd"
Date: May 21, 2010
Subject: “Grandma puncher” gets 25 years in prison
A Kansas City man who punched a 59-year-old grandmother in the face has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Pedro Guzman, 21, received the sentence in Platte County Circuit Court on May 20, after pleading guilty to first degree assault in March.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “It is beyond the pale for a 19-year-old man to sucker punch a woman who is 40 years older than he is. This defendant has repeatedly shown that he is unwilling to live by the rules of civilized society and simply needs to be locked away from the rest of us.”
At sentencing, prosecutors argued that Guzman’s criminal past went back to age 12, and included another serious assault and an escape from custody. Guzman was arrested on suspicion of two new felonies after he posted bond in the Platte County case
According to Zahnd, Guzman, who is not related to the victim, had given a ride to someone to the victim’s home on May 23, 2008. Guzman confessed that he got angry at the victim because he thought the victim had shut his car door too hard. |
Pedro Guzman
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When the victim asked Guzman to leave her property, he punched her in the face. Immediately before the assault, Guzman told the victim’s granddaughter, “Get your Grandma . . . or I will put her on the floor.”
Guzman hit the woman with such force on one side of her face that her jaw broke on the other side. As a result, she could not eat solid food for four weeks. The woman continues to have pain and headaches as a result of the injury.
Zahnd said phone calls from the Platte County Jail record Guzman saying about the victim, “People got to learn not to mouth off to people they don’t know.”
Zahnd said, “Apparently, this defendant thought the grandma he punched needed to learn something. But some old-fashioned rules never go out of style. One of those is that a man should not hit a woman. This young man will have the next couple of decades for that lesson to sink in.”
Guzman must serve 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, meaning he will serve at least 21 years behind bars.
The case was investigated by the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department. It was prosecuted by assistant prosecutors Chris Seufert and Matt Morris.
Eric G. Zahnd
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney
415 Third Street
Suite 60
Platte City, Missouri 64079
(816) 858-3476
(816) 858-3472 (fax)
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