EVERETT — A Mountlake Terrace man remained in critical condition at a Seattle hospital Friday, one day after suffering multiple skull fractures during a fight outside a bar.
Police obtained video of the altercation early Thursday morning that led to the arrests of two Mountlake Terrace men and hospital stays for two others. The incident was reported around 1:40 a.m. Thursday outside a pub in the 21900 block of 66th Avenue West.
The video footage initially showed one man speaking with two men who police later learned are brothers.
An argument occurred and appeared to start after one of the suspects began flirting with a woman, 28.
One of the suspects, 22, initially walked away but returned with two acquaintances, according to court papers.
One of the brothers, 29, responded by pulling out a knife, which he held at his side.
Words were exchanged and the 22-year-old began throwing punches.
During the melee, the brother of the man who had the knife, 32, fell to the ground and two men began hitting and kicking him in the stomach and his head. He was struck repeatedly, sustaining “severe head trauma,” including multiple face and skull fractures, court papers said.
He was taken to Harborview Medical Center.
“He’s still at Harborview and he’s still in critical condition,” deputy prosecutor Kathy Jo Blake said during a bail hearing Friday afternoon.
Bail was set at $25,000 each for the men, 21 and 22, accused of hitting and kicking the man. Prosecutors were seeking $100,000 bail.
Nearby, the other member of the trio squared off with the 29-year-old who had the knife. Despite being unarmed, he appeared to have “the upper hand in the assault,” breaking the other man’s ribs, police wrote.
That man wound up with stab wounds that were later treated at Harborview, but police made no arrests because the injuries appeared to be the result of self defense.
The 21-year-old also was injured, including being sprayed with mace in the mouth and cut in the chest with a knife, court papers said.
In an interview with police, he denied any involvement other than hearing a commotion outside the bar and getting sprayed and cut with a knife. He told police he threw one punch at an unknown man and fled.
Police say video shows otherwise.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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