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Friend of man run over, killed in Mesa speaks
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Jereme Privett
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jonathan Sosnowicz
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Jereme Privett won a fight, but lost his life.
Privett, a 25-year-old business owner, got the best of Jonathan Sosnowicz, 31, in a parking-lot brawl at the Salty Senorita restaurant early Sunday before Sosnowicz jumped into his Hummer and ran him down, according to Ryan Sawyer, Privett's best friend and business partner.
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"People get too much alcohol in them and get stupid," said Sawyer, 25.
Sosnowicz, who has a history of alcohol-related fights and drunken-driving arrests, was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault.
Privett, a Highland High School graduate and partner in Arizona Patriot Plumbing, went to the bar for a family gathering.
Sawyer said that as he, Privett and two women left the bar at 1829 S. Stapley Drive after 2 a.m., Sosnowicz's group of three men and two women, riding in a white Hummer, pulled into a handicapped space with the radio blaring and windows down.
Words were exchanged, and Privett was trying to keep Sosnowicz inside the vehicle as one of the passengers got out, Sawyer said.
"Jereme was known as the kind of guy who wouldn't back down from anyone," Sawyer said.
Sosnowicz eventually got out and tackled Privett, but Privett landed a punch that ended the fight.
Sosnowicz drove off and returned a few minutes later with his lights off until he was about 10 feet from the group and going about 30 mph.
Sawyer said he was able to get one of the women and himself out of the way, and Privett pushed the other woman out of the way.
"Jereme tried to run, but he wasn't fast enough," Sawyer said.
According to Mesa police, an alert went out for the Hummer and a Gilbert police officer saw the vehicle pull into Sosnowicz's garage.
His roommate, Jason Jordan, told police that after the fight, Sosnowicz "was driving fast" and felt a "bump."
Investigators also found red stains and fibers in the Hummer's grille.
Sosnowicz has spent time behind bars for fighting.
Besides a 2003 conviction on a charge of disorderly conduct in Scottsdale municipal court, Sosnowicz was convicted in 2004 for kicking a sheriff's deputy after he had been kicked out of a Scottsdale bar.
He then kicked out a window of the squad car that was traveling 75 mph as he was being driven to jail.
He was placed on probation for three years, but he violated it twice with drunken-driving arrests.
A judge eventually sentenced him to a year in prison.
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