The man accused of sucker-punching “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” star Rick Moranis in a random attack near Central Park nearly two years ago pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in that case as well as multiple charges involving four other victims, the Manhattan district attorney’s office confirmed Wednesday.
Marquis Ventura is expected to get a two-year prison sentence with three years’ post-release supervision when he is sentenced later this month, prosecutors said. In addition to assault in the Moranis case, Ventura pleaded guilty to four counts of assault, petit larceny and second-degree attempted assault in attacks on four other victims. No details on those cases were released.
The 67-year-old actor and comedian had just gotten back to his Upper West Side building from a morning walk on Oct. 1, 2020, when prosecutors say Ventura, without saying a word, punched him in the head. It was on Central Park West, near 70th Street, and Moranis ended up knocked to the ground.
Ventura was spotted by a transit officer and taken into custody.
Moranis had taken himself to the hospital for treatment of his injuries but he wasn’t badly hurt.
Police had released video of the attack on Twitter as well as a close-up surveillance image of the suspect, dressed in black and wearing an “I Love New York” hooded sweatshirt.
Before the attack, Moranis had caught attention for making a return to on-camera work, appearing in a commercial for Mint Mobile alongside fellow Canadian Ryan Reynolds.
The “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” star left Hollywood more than 20 years ago so he could focus on raising his two children as a single father.
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