LAKE STEVENS — A brawl at the Lake Stevens Buzz Inn last month started when a 67-year-old woman told someone’s children to behave.
The children, who appeared to be between 8 and 10, were running around the restaurant, playing hide-and-seek and tag.
The woman was dining with a friend. She repeatedly asked the children to stop, according to the police report. One child had a loud, violent cough.
“The kids were belligerent and came over to her and coughed at her and coughed on her food,” Lake Stevens police Cmdr. Ron Brooks said.
The 36-year-old father of one of the kids got angry and told the woman “he was going to mash her face in,” Brooks said.
A man from a nearby table attempted to defend the woman. He and another man who came to his aid were knocked unconscious. The angry father later was arrested for investigation of assault, harassment and disorderly conduct. His brother, whose child had the cough, joined the fight and also is facing charges.
The confrontation started about 8 p.m. March 19. The Daily Herald recently obtained the police report through a public records request.
Surveillance video showed the father approached the 67-year-old in a “threatening and aggressive manner,” officer Kristen Parnell wrote. He was inches away from the woman when he raised his hand as if to strike her.
A 23-year-old who was dining nearby told the father to leave the woman alone and was punched in the face. Another man, 50, tried to pull the father away from the fight. That’s when the suspect’s brother, 33, jumped in.
The older woman was not hurt.
According to one witness, “all hell broke loose, with food, tables and people flying everywhere.”
The 23-year-old was choked and punched. He suffered three chipped teeth and lost a crown. He said his attacker stomped on his knee.
The 50-year-old suffered a concussion and needed stitches. He also was hit with a chair during the melee. One eye was swollen shut, and his ear was blue and swollen.
When witnesses described the father, using only a first name, officers knew who they were talking about and where he lived.
When they went to his house, the man allegedly punched an officer. He then reportedly said he was going inside to get a gun. Backup arrived and he was taken into custody.
His brother told police that he wanted to press charges against the 67-year-old.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rikkiking.
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