A man who pulled a gun and assaulted a D.C. restaurant owner last June was sentenced Friday to eight months in jail. But the victim says it wasn’t enough.
Gregory Gibson was sentenced in D.C. Superior Court for the unprovoked attack against the owner of the Valor Brewpub, a restaurant on Barracks Row in Southeast. Prosecutors had asked for 18 months.
The victim, Gaynor Jablonski, says the sentence was too light but it was more than he'd expected.
"It doesn’t surprise me," Jablonski said. "I honestly thought walking into this, that he would get 30 days or probation."
The attack was captured on surveillance video, and the disturbing footage left even the judge asking why this happened. The video shows Gibson, who was working as a DoorDash driver, enter the Valor Brewpub to pick up an order. But prosecutors say he refused to show a code on his phone, and the situation escalated.
"He walked in there in a bad mood, looking for a reason to be angry, and you know, then he became irrational and he just snapped," Jablonski said.
The video shows Gibson pull a gun from his pants and point it before he attacks Jablonski, who was sitting down. Jablonski’s 4-year-old son was sitting right next to him at the time.
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Gibson has a son the same age.
Jablonski’s son is still traumatized.
"He'll also tell me, if I tell him I’m going to work, he’ll say, 'Be safe.' It’s cute and sad at the same time," Jablonski said. "A 4, 5-year-old has to worry about his dad going to work because of what he saw."
Prosecutors described the attack as sudden, extreme and violent.
After the attack, the video shows Gibson frantically looking for his gun, but a staffer had grabbed it when it fell on the floor.
Prosecutors say the attack stemmed from a DoorDash order mix-up. The assistant U.S. attorney argued, "He should have known how to handle a minor bump in the road of life."
Claudine Harrison, Gibson’s attorney, says her client has a Master's degree, is a teacher and had dreamed of being an HBCU president someday. Now, with these attempted assault and gun charges on his record, he can’t even be a DoorDash driver anymore.
She said that’s punishment enough, and argued Gibson would be an ideal candidate for probation.
"There is no excuse," she said. "He gets it."
Jablonski asked: "If you're educated and sophisticated and driven enough to want to be a university president, why would you bring a loaded 9mm on your DoorDash route?"
Gibson apologized, saying he’d been under a lot of stress and pressure.
"I am deeply remorseful to Mr. Jablonski, his son and his establishment," he said.
The judge described the attack as illogical and said there’s a risk of it happening again. She ordered Gibson to undergo anger management treatment.
Gibson will have to register as a gun offender within 48 hours after his release from jail.
