WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Police arrested a man for allegedly punching a teenager and knocking her unconscious at a concert over the weekend.
Jacob Shelley, 47, was arrested on aggravated child abuse charges,
Jasmine Newbill, 17, told FOX 13 News that she was the victim in that incident. She now has a broken nose, bruises on her face, sore ribs and a concussion.
Her cousin surprised her with tickets to Saturday’s "$uicideboy$" show at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre in West Valley City to celebrate her birthday. But, she left the concert in a way she never expected — with fractures and pain.
Police said it started as an argument between Shelley’s daughter and the victim, and Shelley defended his daughter. Newbill said she was just trying to get to the front of the lawn area when Shelley told her she couldn’t and started punching her.
"I kind of like gained back a little bit of my consciousness trying to fight for my life, and I like tried to like lift myself up, just grabbing whatever I could to try to like lift myself up, and I just feel a punch out of nowhere, and I’m back on the floor unconscious,” recalled Newbill.
According to police documents, witnesses said Shelley "continuously punched" the teenage girl as amphitheater staff tried to intervene, only to be pushed away by Shelley.
"I’m concussed, my eyes hurt, the first day, I couldn’t feel any of my body pain because my face hurt so bad. I couldn’t even cry because my eye, it hurt so bad to cry,” explained Newbill.
Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre sent the following statement to FOX 13 News: "The safety of our fans, staff, and artists is our top priority. We work in partnership with the West Valley City Police Department and have a dedicated in-house security team at every event to help ensure a safe environment. In the rare event of an incident, we address it immediately and in collaboration with police. Individuals who engage in violent behavior are ejected and may not be permitted at future events."
Shelley was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.
"It’s just very traumatizing, and I don’t think I want to go to a concert again unless I have my mom or somebody I know who’s going to protect me,” added Newbill.
