South Philadelphia Father in a Coma After Being Found Unconscious Outside Bar

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or people who beat a Philadelphia father into a coma.

On Friday, Oct. 11, around 11:45 p.m., police responded to the Cookies Tavern on Oregon Avenue and Alder Street. When they arrived they found Frank Tarantella lying unconscious on the sidewalk.

Tarantella was taken to Jefferson Hospital. As of Tuesday, he remains in a coma.

“They told us that he was in a coma in the ICU unit, unconscious on a ventilator," Christine Lassiter, Tarantella’s fiancée and the mother of his teenage son, told NBC10. “He has a fractured skull. He was bleeding on the brain. He has brain stem damage. Severe brain stem damage.”

Cookies Bar has surveillance cameras both outside and inside. Investigators said they still don’t have any footage of the attack or any witnesses.

“People know what happened,” Lassiter said. “People saw what happened. And I just need to make sure that I’m the voice for him and our son.”

Lassiter told NBC10 their 15-year-old son just started his freshman year of high school.

“Tomorrow’s his birthday,” she said while in tears. “We planned on watching him go to college and after college traveling and doing things together.”

The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $10,000 reward for information or video that leads to an arrest.

“Just please do what’s right,” Lassiter said. “You know what happened. People know what happened. Just please do what’s right. Please. I’m begging you for my son. For me.”

If you have any information on the incident, please call the Crime Commission Tipline at 215-546-TIPS.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect new information from police on the name of the bar.