In cellphone footage of the assault, Veteri and an unidentified man punch Neal Auricchio Jr. to the ground after the off-duty Woodbridge, N.J., police officer attempted to calm an argument, according to prosecutors. They say the squabble started when Veteri knocked the hat of Auricchio's friend to the ground and spit in it.
In the video, prosecutors say, Veteri blindsided the already dazed Auricchio with a punch, knocking him unconscious and breaking his orbital bone.
Patrick cited Veteri's lengthy criminal record in raising the bail.
Veteri has 11 prior arrests - and seven convictions - in four states, all for assault or drugs, but has always managed to elude prison time for probation.
Six of his arrests came in South Philadelphia, where he grew up near 13th and Federal Streets.
In 1998, when he was 18, Veteri stabbed his brother Nicholas, who is a year older. The men had been fist-fighting in the street.
Nicholas was "getting the best of his brother," according to a police report. Dennis went inside for a kitchen knife and thrust it into Nicholas' right thigh.
Nicholas called police. Dennis ran. Nicholas got four stitches at St. Agnes Hospital. The case was eventually dismissed.
By October 1998, Veteri and his brother had apparently reconciled enough to spend an afternoon with a loaded shotgun hunting a man through the streets of South Philadelphia.
Veteri had gotten into an argument with the man, who is black, during a pickup football game.
"If you want beef, I got a shotgun pumped in the trunk," Dennis Veteri yelled, according to a police report.
Later, the Veteri brothers and some friends returned to find the man on a corner near Seventh and Oregon.
Dennis Veteri held the shotgun as the group chased the man into a home, where he called police. Veteri was charged with aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation, and received three years' probation.
