Philadelphia

Mummer, Daughter Arrested for Bat, Gun Attack in South Philly

Police arrested a well-known mummer and his daughter in connection with an Oct. 25 attack that included hitting a man with a bat and then shooting him in the leg on a South Philly street.

Carmen "Butchie" D'Amato, 62, and 36-year-old Rita D'Amato, both of the 900 block of South Front Street in Philadelphia, are facing aggravated assault and other charges.

The father, a member of the Mummers' South Philly Vikings group, and his daughter surrendered to police Friday night after their arrest warrants were issued and they were contacted by authorities, according to officials.

Carmen, who was inducted in the Mummers' Fancy Brigades Hall of Fame in 2006, was armed with a handgun on Oct. 25 -- when he and his bat-wielding daughter approached the unidentified 36-year-old victim near the intersection of 2nd and Carpenter streets in the Queens Village section of the city, investigators said.

Philadelphia Police released surveillance video of the attack earlier this week in the hopes of identifying the suspects, who can be seen talking to the man moments before Rita struck him with a bat, according to officials.

The victim started to run away from the pair, but Carmen chased him and began firing his gun, striking the man once in his left leg, authorities said.

The victim was treated for a broken leg at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. A source told Philly.com the suspects believed the man was breaking into their car.

Both father and daughter are due in court Nov. 18 for their preliminary hearings.

An attorney for the suspects, Frank Desimone, as well as several other mummers, declined to comment on the case.

Carmen previously spent four years behind bars on a tax fraud charge, according to Philly.com. He was indicted in 1988 after being accused of manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine, as well as defrauding the IRS, Philly.com reported.  He was acquitted on the drug charge.

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