Kurt Paschke, seen in video punching woman at Jets-Patriots game, served prison time for stabbing

The Jets fan from Holbrook who was seen in an online video punching a female New England Patriots fan after Sunday's game at MetLife Stadium spent time in prison for stabbing a teenager to death 20 years ago.

The video, which has gone viral, showed Kurt Paschke II, 38, slugging a woman wearing a Patriots jersey in the midst of a brawl after the Jets' overtime victory over New England.

A spokesman for the New Jersey State Police said no one has been arrested or charged with a crime. The police declined to say what happened or to identify those involved. Paschke's father, Kurt Paschke Sr., said his son and his friends were attacked by the Patriots fans.

State court records show Paschke was convicted in the June 27, 1992, stabbing of Henri Ferrer, 17, of Bay Shore after a fight in Sayville and spent about three years in prison.

He initially was charged with murder, but his defense attorney, Thomas Spota, the current Suffolk district attorney, successfully argued that the grand jury had not been instructed on justification and self-defense. A second grand jury indicted Paschke on second-degree manslaughter charges, but at trial he was convicted of the lesser negligent homicide.

In 1995, Paschke was sentenced to 11/3 to 4 years.

Paschke declined to comment yesterday because of the ongoing investigation. But his father, a retired Suffolk County police sergeant, said that what started as typical banter between fans on opposing teams degenerated into an all-out fistfight in which Paschke II was protecting his mother.

Paschke's father said the woman in the video and her three friends had been verbally abusive to his sons' friends during the game and were the instigators. "This girl was charging him and punching him. She's no lady," Paschke's father said. "She was the aggressor. If she's gonna start a fight, what is my son gonna do?"

Everyone involved in the melee was detained and questioned by New Jersey State Police and released, Kurt Paschke Sr. said. He said his son's friends -- a woman who suffered a black eye and a man who suffered a concussion -- were treated at a hospital Sunday and released.

According to Kurt Paschke Sr., the Patriot fans were tormenting his son's friends, one of whom recently had surgery to rewire her jaw.

"They started making fun of her face and getting nasty toward her. She was very upset," Kurt Paschke Sr. said. "This wasn't about who had the better team anymore."

As his son, his wife and their friends were leaving the stadium, Kurt Paschke Sr. said, the woman and her friends "jumped" the couple.

He said his son stepped in to defend the couple and protect his mother, Colleen, 62, who was standing nearby.

"If you look at the video, you'll see that my son was being dragged back by several people who had Patriots jerseys on," Kurt Paschke Sr. said. "Then they started punching him and he was concerned about my wife. He was defending his mother and himself."

The blonde woman who was punched got a bloody nose, Kurt Paschke Sr. said. "She spit blood in her hand and threw it in my wife's face," he said.

There are dozens of versions of the video of Paschke's punch, drawing millions of views from around the country.

With all that's going on in the world, Kurt Paschke Sr. said, he was surprised that a fight at a football game has drawn so much media attention.

"This is ridiculous," he said.