July 18, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
David Cortez, 28, of Queens, New York, was beaten to death outside Pat's King of Steaks on Sept. 16, 2021. Omar Arce, 35, and Jose Flores-Huerta, 36, both pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges stemming from the deadly brawl that followed a soccer match at Subaru Park.
Two men involved in a fatal brawl outside Pat's King of Steaks in 2021 each pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault. The melee in South Philly happened after a soccer match at Subaru Park in Chester.
Omar Arce, 35, and Jose Flores-Huerta, 36, were among a group of people who got into a fight around 2 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2021, outside the shop at Ninth Street and Passyunk Avenue. Investigators said an argument turned violent and 28-year-old Isidro Cortez, of Queens, New York, wound up on the ground while as many as four people attacked him and two other men.
Portions of the fight were caught on video. One of the attackers struck Cortez in the head with a metal trash can lid while others, including Arce and Flores-Huerta, threw punches and kicks. Cortez died at the scene. His 64-year-old father and a friend also were seriously injured in the attack.
Police said those involved in the fight had gone out for food after attending a Concacaf Champions League semifinal match between the Philadelphia Union and Mexico's Club América. Many of the people seen in the surveillance video of the fight were wearing yellow Club América jerseys. In addition to Arce and Flores-Huerta, arrest warrants were issued for two other men who remain at large.
Arce and Flores-Huerta had been charged with murder, conspiracy and related offenses before pleading guilty to the lesser charges. While being held in prison, Flores-Huerta was charged separately for serving as a lookout for two inmates who escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center last year — leading to a 10-day manhunt. Flores-Huerta pleaded guilty to that charge on Wednesday, as well.
Both men were sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison and five years of probation. They became immediately eligible for parole because of the time they've served since the brawl.
Cortez's death happened two months after another late-night dispute outside Pat's King of Steaks led to the fatal shooting 23-year-old Camden resident David Padro. Paul Berkert, 39, of Berks County, pleaded guilty and was sentenced last year to 3 1/2 to 10 years in prison. His girlfriend, Jamie Frick, was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the shooting and leaving the scene.
Pat's King of Steaks owner Frank Olivieri said after both incidents that his shop is "not a public menace" or a magnet for crime.
"It's a sign of our times and a lawless city we're living in," he said.
