EVERETT — A man was nearly beaten to death in June outside the same Mountlake Terrace bar that was the site of a fatal attack in 2012.
The recent incident left a bar patron with a brain injury, a fractured skull and broken facial bones. Doctors say it’s too early to tell if the man will fully recover. His balance and coordination may be permanently impaired. The man was hospitalized for more than a month at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He also underwent emergency surgery for bleeding in his brain, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Elise Deschenes wrote in court papers.
A doctor “indicated that without prompt medical assistance there is a likelihood the victim would have died,” according to charging papers.
Detectives don’t believe the man knew his attacker. They suspect that the beating was fueled by alcohol. Prosecutors have charged Brandon Knoth, 32, with first-degree assault. Knoth is a convicted felon with a history of alcohol-related offenses.
Witnesses told police that Knoth and three other people came into O’Houlies Pub to drink. A bartender said he stopped serving the group alcohol when they became obnoxious. One of the men tried bribing the bartender to remain open for another hour, Deschenes wrote in court papers. The group eventually walked out.
The victim, who had been playing pool, left around 1:50 a.m. About 10 minutes later, a patron told a bartender that there was a man on the ground in the parking lot. The bartender called 911, and officers found the victim, bleeding from the face.
A video surveillance camera captured part of the assault, Deschenes wrote. The footage shows Knoth talking with the other man in the parking lot. The defendant appeared to take a fighting stance before running around the other man several times.
“The victim stands still with his hands at his side while the defendant bounces around him in a circle in a fighting stance,” Deschenes wrote.
Knoth allegedly punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground. The other man sat on the ground before slowing getting to his feet. He was walking toward his vehicle when Knoth allegedly ran toward him.
The two men ended up off camera, according to court documents. In the last frames Knoth was seen drawing back his arm as if getting ready to throw another punch, Deschenes wrote.
Knoth reportedly ran to a waiting car and left.
Police identified Knoth using a receipt from a nearby business. He contacted police the next day and agreed to turn himself in. He failed to show up so police officers went looking for him.
Knoth allegedly smelled of alcohol when they arrested him. He became upset with officers, complaining that they’d come to his house. Knoth told police he didn’t want to be arrested in front of his family. He reportedly told police he was on his way to turn himself in and was only 15 minutes late.
“You guys must not have a lot going on. Kind of bored?” he allegedly said to the arresting officers.
Knoth is scheduled to answer to the charge next month.
Just four years ago, a man suffered fatal injuries outside O’Houlies Pub.
Christopher Patterson, 32, was beaten into a coma. He died about seven months later. The attacker, Bryan James Scott, was sentenced to seven years in prison for kicking and stomping on Patterson’s head.
Key evidence in that case was surveillance video that documented what happened outside the pub on Oct. 4, 2012.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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