BALTIMORE — John Berardi is left with permanent eye damage about three months after he was attacked by a group of juveniles in Federal Hill.
"If I look at you with just my right eye, my center vision, so the things you use to make out faces and read anything detailed, is gone. It's just a gray square," Berardi said.
One of the kids attacked him with a broomstick after stealing his pizza.
"It hit me in my eye, and then it had a head on it. It was like a brush, and it split open my forehead with the brush head. The brush head broke off."
The assault left a hole in his retina, rupturing the back of his right eye.
Since then, it's been surgery after surgery.
"That surgery required me to lay face down for 16 days straight, no breaks, just laying down trying to recover and get the hole to close."
And even though there are many videos and pictures of his attackers, there's been no justice.
John told WMAR 2 News police told him they have leads.
"Suspicion is not enough. You need to have evidence for a juvenile, and then even then, they need to have an attorney or guardian be present for the entire thing. It doesn't seem acceptable."
But he claimed it wasn't just police who were stonewalling him, saying he's gone from official to official trying to get some answers.
"And then you talk to the mayor and the governor, and they both say the crime is down. That's their talking point. Or they'll say they're doing the work, but that doesn't mean anything to the people too afraid to leave their homes."
He believes his attack is evidence of a bigger problem with juvenile violence.
"They know that if they get caught, they'll just get released immediately."
Juvenile crime has been a hot topic in the Maryland General Assembly.
A proposed bill would raise the age a juvenile could be tried as an adult from 14 to 16 years old.
John said he's reminded of the attack every time he gets another expensive medical bill.
"I was robbed of a lot, and then you don't think about the financial part that's going to come over time. It's in the tens of thousands now."
He and his fiancée have started a GoFundMe to help out with the costs.
But he said at the end of the day, it's not just about him.
"Yes, I want justice for myself, but equally, I don't want this to happen to someone else."
