TUSCOLA COUNTY (WWJ) - A large-scale bar brawl between almost a dozen patrons at Thumb region restaurant lead to two victims being hospitalized and the arrest of five people who are now facing a whopping 40 criminal charges, officials said.
The Tuscola County Sheriff's Department said deputies were made aware of the huge fight after reports came flooding in from Friends Bar, also known as Hollywood & Vine, located at 9975 Silverwood Road in Dayton Township just after midnight on Friday, May 19.
Deputies, along with Michigan State Police and Caro and Vassar police officers, arrived at the scene and found 10 to 12 people engaged in a full on fight outside the bar.
A man and a woman, aged 26, had been hit and kicked several times. The pair was transported to a local hospital.
The sheriff's office said the woman, a resident of North Branch, was treated for non-life threatening injuries and released. The man, a Dryden native, was hospitalized in the intensive care unit for two days before being released.
Police arrested two people at the scene, but as they continued their investigation, they developed three other suspects who were taken into custody at a later time.
"This group came to this bar specifically looking for (the victims)," Baxter stated. "They were apparently looking for revenge for an incident that happened months earlier at another bar. It wasn't random; they planned a conspiracy to target these individuals."
According to Baxter, no weapons were used in the brawl.
All five suspects were charged with the same eight counts as follows:
• Two counts each of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder
• Two counts each of assault with intent to do great bodily harm
• Two counts aggravated assault
• Two counts of conspiracy to commit both offenses.
Assault with intent to do great bodily harm is a felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars. An aggravated assault charge is a one-year misdemeanor.
At least one suspect — Beau A. Stratton, 28, of Clifford — has been arraigned as of May 24th in Tuscola County District Court.
The other four suspects -- a 24-year-old Clifford woman, a 34-year-old North Branch woman, a 23-year-old North Branch woman, and a 27-year-old Fostoria man -- have bonded out of jail and are scheduled for their arraignment on June 7.
Stratton's probably cause conference is set for May 31.
