A 51-year-old Bremerton man, John A. Pribyl, was arrested Wednesday night after police say he savagely beat another man over a $20 debt. Pribyl was arrested and charged with assault in the second degree and providing false or misleading statement to a public servant.

According to the certificate of probable cause, a Bremerton police officer responded to a call reporting an assault in progress near the entrance of the Bremerton foot-ferry. According to witnesses, a male was kicking another male. Dispatchers advised the responding officers that a male suspect had left the scene with two other males and the victim was left lying on the ground with blood covering his face. One officer on the scene later suspected that the victim had sustained a ruptured aorta resulting from the attack.

A BPD officer located the suspect at a table near the Bremerton Marina and detained him. Upon seeing Pribyl, the victim identified him as the suspect male that assaulted him, according to court documents. Pribyl was then placed into custody.

Pribyl allegedly admitted to authorities that he assaulted the victim, but provided several different stories regarding how many times he kicked him.

“I kicked the piss out of him,” Pribyl stated according to court documents.

According to police, video footage of the assault shows Pribyl kicking the victim’s stomach and side eight times and stomping on his face. The victim never fought back, police said, noting that the story Pribyl had provided officers did not match the video footage.

Pribyl’s bail has been set at $200,000.

Tyler Shuey is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at tshuey@soundpublishing.com