A father is arrested after leading his daughter into a fight with another at the Sunrise bus stop; then joins

SUNRISE, Florida. (WSVN) — A teenage girl’s father took violent action when he saw his daughter and another girl fighting near the Sunrise bus stop, leading to his arrest.

Jerry Mareus has been charged with aggravated child abuse in connection with a hand-to-hand combat on NW 60th Avenue on Tuesday.

A dramatic mobile phone video captured teenage girls fighting before a grown man intervened.

Sunrise police said Mareus, who was seen wearing a white hoodie, is the father of a girl in dark pants.

Investigators said the 30-year-old suspect, who is 5’8″ and weighs 165 pounds, punched a girl who was fighting his daughter in the face, leaving the teen severely bruised.

But another father is involved in this story: the father of the victim, who did not want to name himself.

“What heartless person could do such a thing?” the victim’s father said. “As a parent, we must protect, including defuse the situation, and not try to escalate the situation.”

But police said Mareus did more than just stand up for his own daughter.

“This whole situation started because he brought his own child to this place specifically to fight this 15-year-old, Your Honor,” the lawyer said.

It is unclear whether the mobile phone video of the interaction was filmed from the same angle as the video viewed by police.

The video clearly shows how Mareus tears the girl away from her daughter and throws her to the ground.

Police said they saw a video showing much more.

“The arresting officer was watching the video. In the video, Mr. Mareus punched the 15-year-old victim several times with his clenched fist,” the lawyer said.

Mareus denies this.

The victim’s father said his daughter’s nose was broken and her eye was so badly hurt that it closed. Now her vision is blurred.

Only on Friday, three days after the attack, she was able to eat again, the victim’s father said.

The worried father, now focused on healing his daughter, wants to say something.

“I believe the law will do the right thing and I will leave it at that,” he said. “We know better. That’s why adults rule, not children. We must guide them.”

According to him, in order to find ways to resolve disputes, one should never resort to such violence.

7News stopped by Mareus’s home to see if he had any comments. Nobody opened the door.

As for the battered victim, her father said she has a long road to recovery to regain vision in her eye, which would likely require surgery.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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