Dad Fires Son From Family Business For Urinating On Child Cancer Patient's Memorial

Bryan Bellace was wearing a shirt representing his family's plumbing business when he was filmed desecrating a monument to a 9-year-old New Jersey boy.
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A New Jersey man who was recorded urinating on a memorial to a young cancer patient has been forgiven by the boy’s father, but not his own dad.

Bryan Bellace went viral this past weekend because of a Snapchat video showing him urinating on a memorial at a Mays Landing park honoring Christian Clopp, a local boy who died in 2012 from a brain tumor at the age of 9, according to CBS Philadelphia.

As a result, the 23-year-old Bellace has been charged with disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, lewdness and having an open alcoholic beverage in a park.

He was released on a summons and is due in court May 29.

Daniel Flippen, 23, who police say filmed the video, was charged with having an open alcoholic beverage in a park.

On Monday, Christian’s father, Mark Clopp, reached out to the suspects in a Facebook post:

I don’t know either one of you. I have no idea what exists in your life to make you so indifferent to how others feel but I hope this serves as a wake up call and you get the help you need.

I admit, my initial reaction was to find you and beat you senseless in defense of my son’s honor and the distress you caused my family. I am better than that.

I hope it doesn’t take the heartache my family has lived through to open your eyes. Something is wrong in your life and you need to fix it.

You have done serious damage to your reputation; only you can fix it. How you respond to this dictates the direction your life will take.

Bellace not only faces criminal charges and community anger, but his father fired him from the family plumbing business.

It seems he was wearing a T-shirt for Bruce Bellace Plumbing and Heating in the video, so his dad, Bruce Bellace, canned him, according to the Press of Atlantic City.

“I had to remove him from employment,” Bellace said. “We apologized to the family. ... I’m sorry for his actions. I’m not proud of him.”

He added that his son was “probably drunk” during the incident.

“Ultimately it’s my fault,” Bellace said. “Maybe we didn’t teach him right.”

Bryan Bellace didn’t make excuses about what happened to ABC News.

“It was a big mistake I made. I was intoxicated. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time,” he said. “When I came to my senses the next day, I realized I made a huge mistake. I wish I could take it all back and make things right.”

Bellace tried to do just that on Monday when he met Mark Clopp in person. The father chose to forgive him for the desecration.

“Being angry is never going to heal anyone, it’s never going to fix it. The most intelligent thing to do is to put it behind us. Let’s move on and turn it into something positive,” Clopp told CBS Philadelphia.

For Bellace, that means getting treatment for alcoholism, while Clopp hopes the incident inspires people to work on beautifying the park in his son’s memory.

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