joe. joe, call the police. call the police. >> the video was broadcast nationwide. >> i assume you've looked better than you look this morning. >> reporters getting beaten up in the line of duty. >> some video you just got to see. >> this vicious beating is the result of a series of reports by mattes into the affairs of this man, sam suleiman. a local landlord and developer. >> call the police.ç >> mattes had been reporting on suleman business dealings for the fox tv station news 6 in san diego. >> for three months i had been investigating mr. suleiman and his real estate empire, which was based on allegations of mortgage fraud. >> no fraud charges are ever filed by the san diego district attorney. but mattes continues to report on suleiman. and after his third story, mattes says he gets a frightening phone call. >> in the middle of the night, i'm going to come get you. you're an insect. you better retract. >> mattes says threatening late-night calls to his personal cell phone become regular and frequent. >> all of the threats were directed at my reporting. all of the threats were directed at shutting me down. >> the now notorious mauling starts while mattes is interviewing this man, b.k. phillips, for a fourth story about a pair of previous run-ins with suleiman. >> this is our house. >> phillips lives next door to one of suleiman's buildings and he says, first, they have a neighborly squabble. and on a second occasion, as phillips walks through his neighborhood back to his home on a sunday afternoon, he says suleiman crosses the line. >> suleiman shows up out of nowhere, screeched up in his car, kicked open his car door, ran out and literally was posturing like i'm going to kick your butt, i'm going to beat your ass and a bunch of colorful expletives. >> phillips immediately calls police to the scene and later gets a restraining order against suleiman. so when reporter john mattes comes to interview him, he's all too happy to share everything he knows. >> i'd basically had enough ç harassment from this man. john was just about to interview me when rosa barraza shows up. >> rosa is suleiman's wife and she's angry. >> stop that [ bleep ] camera right now. >> out of nowhere, his wife drives up in a car from there and comes running up and starts screaming. >> why are you doing this? you didn't have enough with what you air? >> and i'm thinking, what am i doing to you? you've just invaded someone's private property. you invaded our personal space, and now you're interfering with an interviewer. and then she proceeds to smack me with a bottle. >> uf! >> that's not appropriate. >> i don't give a [ bleep ]. >> it doesn't end there. >> you like tijuana or ensenada? which one you like better? >> she's asking him where on the other side of the mexican border he wants to be buried. >> i'm going to put you on the other side of the country. >> next barraza turns her attention to the cameraman. >> stop it! >> she's leaving and then proceeds to batter the camera and knocks the cameraman down. as he pulls his camera back from looking at the ground, if you listen very closely, you can hear tires screeching. suleiman shows up, and at this time i'm thinking he's actually coming to fight with me because we've had words so many times. i got there in enough time -- what i thought was enough time to keep john from getting a lot of damage but suleiman, he fights like a badger. you know? >> i feel this hand coming across my face, and he's putting these long fingernails in my ears trying to rip my ears off, and i can feel him trying to rip my mouth apart. the three of us were in this ç pile of flesh trying to grapple, but he's proceeding to shred my face. and this continues on, and i'm thinking, okay, my life is flashing. i'm thinking, well, okay, i'm going to be maimed. i'm going to lose my eyesight. but i'm going to live. then i hear him scream to his wife, honey, get the gun. >> a gun? it could have gotten much worse, but lucky for mattes, no gunfire. >> they were so excited about the opportunity to whack me, they forgot to bring the gun. >> by this point, a crowd was formed, and the police are on their way, called by witnesses to this very bizarre street brawl. >> stop. >> get off him. >> turn around! get on the ground! get on the ground! get on the ground! >> suleiman is a crazy person, obviously. when the sirens started getting closer and closer, you could literally see the switch in his eyes where the adrenaline must have stopped pumping, and he's like, oh, what did i just do? he literally looked like he was chemically imbalanced at this point. >> the onlookers stand by in disbelief. >> in fact, tourists who came upon the fight scene thought this had all been scripted, that this was some kind of hollywood production because of this whole elaborate setup of cars in the middle of the street and with his wife running around looking for the gun. they couldn't believe the blood flying around was anything but fake. >> but the blood and the injuries to john mattes are all too real. he's all cut up, bruised, a few broken ribs, and has to spend the night in the hospital. >> get on the ground! get on the ground! >> in court, sam suleiman as ¿ 1 part of a plea agreement, pleads guilty to felony assault. he's sentenced to a year in jail and three years probation. his wife pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon and is placed on three years probation. she's also ordered to do 30 hours of community service. >> john mattes, i'm going to sue the living -- out of you. >> thank you. >> john mattes is still concerned this may not be over. >> at the sentencing, the judge gave mr. suleiman an opportunity to apologize to me, and yet he turned to me and said, that man was the cause of my problems. that man is dangerous. he uses a microphone as a deadly weapon. >> mattes is thankful that b.k. phillips decided to intervene. he's also thankful the cameraman thought better and decided not to intervene. >> he kept shooting the whole time so that when the police came, it couldn't be mr. mattes attacked me. no. the cameraman says, why don't you look at the tape. they looked at the tape, and that was it. he was gone. so the cameraman saved this situation, saved me. >>> coming up, rescuers battle to save a man at the edge of niagara falls. >> if you go over at this particular spot, you're not going to survive. >> we thought for sure we were going to see this poor guy go right over the brink. >>> and this man -- >> i'd rather have the prosecutor be my attorney than him. >> -- wants a new lawyer. when "caught on camera: sinister, strange, shocking" returns. wouldn't it be cool if we took the nissan altima and reimagined nearly everything in it? 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[ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath, an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. liberty mutual auto insurance. high schools in six states enrolled in the national math and science initiative... ...which helped students and teachers get better results in ap courses. together, they raised ap test scores 138%. just imagine our potential... ...if the other states joined them. let's raise our scores. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. >>> niagara falls, the largest set of waterfalls in north america. its beauty is mesmerizing, its power awe inspiring.ç but on this day, it's the force of men, not nature, that's the biggest miracle of all. an unbelievable rescue mission to save one man who has crept dangerously close to the edge of the falls. the call comes in on march 19th, 2003, 5:08 p.m. sergeant pat moriarty is on duty. he's a 19-year veteran of the niagara falls state park police. >> our radio man yelled down the hall and said, we just got a call from the canadians. there's a man on the ice at terrapin point. >> not a safe place to be. terrapin point is a piece of land that sits as close to the falls as you can get. >> the drop from that point, terrapin point, is over 180 feet straight down. if you go over in that particular spot, you're not going to survive. >> when moriarty arrives on the scene, it's even worse than he expected. the man is not on the icy formation on land, he's waist-deep in frigid water. >> when i saw the victim standing almost in waist deep water right at the brink of the falls, the hair on the back of my neck went up. >> moriarty immediately calls the fire department and the helicopter rescue unit. he also calls the power company upriver and asks them to use their dam to lower the water level. within minutes, niagara firefighter gary carella arrives on the scene. >> where the victim was standing is almost impossible to fathom. it is one of the most dangerous positions that a person can put themselves in. if i was a betting man, i would bet 99.9 times out of 100, that n(á$áup'd that close to the falls. >> carella, moriarty, and the rest of the rescue team meet to come up with a plan. they know there isn't much time. darkness is setting in, and it's only getting colder. >> our training and experience tells us we only have slight minutes to get him out of that position, or he may go into shock or even cardiac arrest due to hypothermia. >> the decision is made to lower carella and moriarty into the water. these two men, who have met only in passing before, know they'll need to trust each other. >> we shook hands and looked each other in the eye and i think we understood, i'm there to save your life and you're there to save mine. >> as they're lowered into the water, they both have two ropes attached to their harnesses. one ties them to a small shrub on the shore, and the other is controlled by about 20 rescuers. they will use all of their strength to keep those men from getting swept over the falls. >> the water going at such a rate and then dropping at such a distance creates this tremendous thunder. you actually feel like you're in a small earthquake, and it's just an unsettling feeling. >> looking down from the shoreline when we first hit the water, i pulled on gary's arm and pointed down. directly down river from us, the brink of the falls along the shoreline, the water had undercut the ice. i said to gary, if we lose our footing, we'll end up under the ice under the water, and that was the last thing i wanted to have happen. >> moriarty can't know it yet, but he would soon face his greatest fear. but for now, they inch out into the raging waters, hoping to get the man a life ring.ç onshore, a rescue worker finds a suicide note from the man now fighting fiercely for his life. but carella and moriarty know nothing about the note, and they're able to make contact with the victim. >> we wanted to reassure him. make him -- tell him that we're coming to get you. we're here for you. >> he was able to yell loud enough that i can't stand here much longer. i'm cold. and he said that he's getting weaker. >> carella and moriarty can't stand there much longer either. >> we could feel our feet, you know, being pulled from under us, and we looked at each other and i said, this is going to have to be a no-go. >> fortunately plan "b" "arrive from the air. captain kevin caffery hovers above, trying to get a rescue basket close enough for the man to grab. >> we made four or five attempts to get him with the rescue basket. we got pretty close to him. the problem is with the treacherous air current, it was almost impossible to control the aircraft. >> at some point he said, i'm running out of power. we're not going to be able to do this. >> another failed attempt. the chopper returns to land. so the team can come up with plan "c." in the water, carella and moriarty know time is not on their side. >> at this time now, it's starting to get dark. gary and i were getting colder in the water because we'd been in there for a while. i know my hands were getting numb. i was getting concerned, if we did get close enough to the victim, am i going to be able to grab onto him and hold him? our victim, who's soaking wet at this time, is telling us he can't last much longer. what we originally thought he'dç only last for a few minutes, now he's been in there over an hour. i'm very, very concerned we've run out of time. >> the life ring they've been tossing is repeatedly washed back to them by the strong currents. but co-pilot art litsinger suggests they get the life ring to the victim from the air. >> we'd have to get fairly close and actually try to toss this ring out to somewhere where he could get a hold of it. >> i knew our biggest problem was the rotor wash from the aircraft itself, the wind speed. and i was afraid we were going to knock him over. >> but they're willing to give it a shot. >> we're probably only about a foot or two off the water. we tried to get in close. i was trying to get our side of the aircraft in close to him so he could throw the gentleman the ring. and as soon as we got that rotor wash next to him, we could see the guy starting to stumble. >> i was looking right at him, and he got a little disoriented, and then he got wobbly, and then he fell. >> seeing his head go under, i cringed and closed my eyes a little bit and said a little prayer and said, oh, boy, he's gone. >> can rescuers get to the man in time? >> the danger level increased 100%. >> what was a difficult rescue is about to get even tougher. >> his legs went right over the brink. >>> when "caught on camera: sinister, strange, shocking" returns. my volt is the best vehicle i've ever driven. i bought the car because of its efficiency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. 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[ female announcer ] visit a participating retailer and save up to $600 on a tempur-cloud supreme mattress set. >>> it's march 19th, 2003. rescuers have been trying for more than an hour to save a man from falling nearly 180 feet over the edge of niagara falls to his death. from the air rescuers are attempting to toss him a life ring. but suddenly the man slips, and they fear they've lost him for good. >> when he first fell, he grabbed onto the rocks. and then within a few seconds, he slid back probably another two or three feet. and at that point, his legs actually went over the brink. >> but against all odds, the man is able to pull himself up on a rock. >> and then there's just jubilation.ç he stands up, and it's miraculous. it's an unbelievable experience to see somebody just sheer will and drive of that person to not go over and just stand up. >> he's up, but it's not time to celebrate yet. the man's footing is still unstable. co-pilot art litsinger knows he has precious seconds to act and only he can save the man now. but spray is pelting him in the face. and so blindly he tosses the life ring into the teeth of the swirling wind. >> fortunately, i got pretty close to him, and the current took it right across in front of his face, about two foot in front of him. >> now it's do or die for the man who has held on for so long. >> he got it. >> he actually had to let go of what he was holding on to to get the ring. it was about a foot or two in front of him. he let go, and he grabbed the ring. we did see that his legs went right over the brink. >> on shore, rescuers start pulling the rope, plucking the man from certain death. >> i can't describe the feeling of, for 30 seconds anyway, of feeling this relief that he finally has it. finally we have him. we have something connected to him. he's not on his own anymore. and we start to bring him in. >> as carella and moriarty watch their peers pull the guy to shore, the feeling of relief is short-lived. if standing feet from the edge of niagara falls isn't dangerous enough, almost unbelievably the stakes are about to go up even the man slips under that menacing ice shelf, the very thing moriarty feared most. >> upon being dragged underneath the ice floe, the danger level increased 100%. he now is on a rope that is unable to be pulled back because he goes underneath the ice. he's also being dragged by a current that is unbelievable because now it's pressurized. it's formed underneath the ice. he's almost like a water skier in a current being just straight out. >> now it's critical. so i looked at gary and said, we got to go. that's it. we got to go. we've got to go get him. >> rescuers on top of the ice cautiously give carella and moriarty the rope they need to reach the man, who is still holding on to that life ring just a few feet from the edge of the falls. >> when we first got up to him, the water was literally running completely over his face. i could see his eyes -- he was looking up at me under the water, looking at me. it was surreal. >> i never will forget this as long as i live because his arm was outstretched. he's almost losing the ring. pat reaches under and grabs the only thing that he could, the fingers that are out of the water. and he had him just by the four fingers, he's holding him. >> i pulled as hard as i could. i was able to get his face out of the water so he could breathe. >> he could breathe and talk. >> he just told us, let me go. he just gave up. he said, save yourselves. let me go. let me go. >> we more or less had some choice words for him and told him that we didn't come this far to let you go now, that all of us are going up. you've got to help us. >> carella manages to get underneath the victim and is able to slip a harness around his body.ç once the harness is on, he wraps his arms and legs around the man and braces himself. >> pat yelled for them to pull, and i'll tell you what, it was the quickest ever i thought i would go up an embankment. must have been the adrenaline on top because we slid out of there in a matter of seconds. >> and minutes later, sergeant moriarty is pulled to safety too. it's a chaotic scene, but now both on solid ground, the two men who just risked their lives to save another search for each other in the crowd. >> we shook hands, and we -- it was just an understanding that only people that do this can understand the feeling of gratitude and pride in the job we had just done. it was like, i can't believe we just did that. >> every time i see pat, i get that little smile and that feeling inside, and i think back to that day and i know he'll be a friend for life. >>> coming up, parents out of control at a kids' football game. >> i f'ing pushed your kid. what are you going to do about it? >>> also, what kind of person would steal a puppy?$ >> every time it happens, i lose more and more faith in people. >>> and what in the world is this guy thinking? a stunt gone terribly wrong when "caught on camera: sinister, strange, shocking" continues. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if someone took mid-sized sedans and broke the mold? if we took our best-selling altima back to its essence, kept its dna, then reimagined nearly everything in it? ♪ gave it greater horsepower... ♪ ...and a lighter and stronger body... ♪ ...advanced headlight technologies for greater visibility... ♪ ...and zero gravity seats that reduce fatigue? ♪ yeah, that would be cool. introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima... ♪ ...with best in class 38 mpg highway and better acceleration than camry and accord. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ nissan. innovation that excites. what happens when classroom teachers get the training... ...and support they need? schools flourish and students blossom. that's why programs like... ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. >>> i'm milissa rehberger, here's what's happening. millions of people are heading into the evening without power in the eastern united states after violent storms hit that area. power officials say the outages won't be repaired for several days to a week. at least 13 peopleç have died from the storms. >>> firefighters are finally having some success in the wildfires in colorado. one of the major fires is expected to be contained tomorrow. hundreds of homes have been destroyed by fires in the state. >>> now back to "caught on camera." >>> is there anything more innocent, more fun than kids playing sports? they play for the love of the game, and between the lines of the playing field, they can learn respect, responsibility, rules -- all valuable life lessons. so what happens when a huge fight breaks out? the grown-ups calm things down. right? well, what if it's the adults who are out of control? the roar of the crowd. the pop of the pads. it's friday night in western texas, and it's intense. but far, very far from those famous friday night lights, on a saturday morning here in stockton, california, these boys play for the love of the game. and they know how to hit pretty hard, too. it's less than a minute to go in the game when the referee blows the whistle on number 58, 13-year-old brian woods of the stockton bears. that's a late hit. seconds later, a friendly game of football turns into an all-out brawl. 36-year-old cory petero, an assistant coach, is seen on home video charging onto the field. petero's son is the one on the receiving end of the late hit.ç to everyone's horror, petero finds woods and knocks the teenage player to the ground. >> i was like walking back to the sidelines. it was a kickoff, so offense was coming out. i wasn't like expecting it. he caught me off guard. >> you don't run out on the field and take actions into your own hands and hit a child. that's what the referees are there for, to call the penalties, and the game moves on. >> denise champion, brian's mom, can't believe what she's seeing. >> next minute i know, there are people running onto the field, everybody's fighting. everybody's trying to break it up. people trying to break it up. there are kids crying. it was just a big chaos. >> when the dust settles, the man who started it all, 36-year-old father and assistant coach, is nowhere to be found. >> i thought the coach jumped over a fence and then there was like a car waiting for him. >> that day after the incident, he turned himself in to stockton police when he learned they were looking for him. >> scott smith is a reporter who covered the case for the "stockton record." >> he was arrested initially on felony child abuse charges, which brings potentially a state prison sentence. >> but petero has no previous record. as part of a plea deal, the charges are reduced to a misdemeanor, inflicting injury on a child. he accepts the deal. cory petero is sentenced to 45 days of community service and instructed to take an anger management class. >> i really wasn't pushing the issue for the jail and court and all that because, you know, things happen. people get upset. i was really looking for an apology. >> the apology never comes, but denise and her son are trying to put the whole ordeal behind them. >> i just have to teach my son to move on and do what makes him happy. we can't let that get the best of us.ç >> and brian is moving on. next stop, he's trying out for his high school football team. >> i'm going to continue to play and make that all fall behind. >> down the road from stockton in southern california, another shocking piece of amateur video. parents out of control at a kids football game. just before this raucous scene is caught on camera, the pico rivera dons are playing the downey razorbacks. 12, 13, and 14-year-old boys are playing football. the pico rivera quarterback drops back for a long pass, but a downey razorback makes a nice play, intercepting the ball and racing down the sideline. and after the play, a little extracurricular activity. watch as a very upset pico player says something to his coach and points toward the stands. then seconds later, an unbelievable brawl breaks out between parents. spilling out of the bleachers and onto the field. rene gamboa is the mother of the boy who just said something to his coach. she thinks a parent of a player on the opposing team pushed her son, and she's mad. >> so i turned around to the people in the bleachers, and i said, i want to know what parent pushed my kid. and the man with the blue jersey stood up and said, i f'ing pushed your kid. what are you going to do about it? >> the man in the blue jersey is this guy, who after the exchange with gamboa, is being viciously kicked and beaten. his name, dessie tubbs. tubbs said he never made the threatening comments to rene gamboa. and as for pushing her son, couldn't have been him.ç >> i wasn't even on the field, i was in the stands. >> but after a short confrontation with gamboa's husband, tubbs soon finds himself out of the stands in the middle of a vicious melee. >> they knocked me down to the ground, and some guy starts hitting me. well, i focus on him and i get on top of him. and i was able to get a couple of punches in. but then i was pulled off of him, kicked, beat, stomped, everything. he even tried to pull my pants down. >> the men seen on the tape doing most of the kicking, stomping, and beating are these two brothers. gino and joeootage, the brothers find themselves in real trouble. they're arrested on felony assault charges, and both plead no contest. joe is sentenced to five years, and gino to two. pico rivera coach tony gonzalez has a hard time explaining to his team just what their parents were thinking. >> it's a shame. our kids are very upset. i mean, because, you know, they feel that -- their innocence got taken away from them. this is a game, a football game. they're 14-year-olds, 13-year-olds, and 12-year-olds. >>> coming up, a man robs a bank with a bomb strapped to his neck. >> i'm not lying. >> is he in on the sinister plot or an unwilling participant? >>> and a daredevil plays with fire. when "caught on camera: sinister, strange, shocking" returns. i have evidence that proves my dad's a space alien. he speaks a weird language. [ gargling ] [ gargling ] he drinks green stuff. he says he's from albuquerque. i'm not buying it. i mean, just look at him. and one more thing -- he has a spaceship. [ whirr