A Lodi man was punched in the face following an argument outside a popular downtown Madison bar early Wednesday in the latest incident in a string of violent bar fights in the area.
Witnesses said the victim got into a fight with another man outside Wando's Bar at 602 University Ave. around 1:30 a.m., according to a Madison Police Department report. The perpetrator then punched the victim, knocking him to the ground, and continued to beat the victim before fleeing.
Police located the suspect, 24-year-old Marc Grewe of Great Falls, Mont., near Wando's at the intersection of Lake Street and University Avenue. Grewe was arrested and tentatively charged with substantial battery. The victim suffered facial cuts and lost a tooth from the altercation.
The beating came nearly one week after a bar brawl outside the Plaza Tavern on Henry Street ended in the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Juan Bernal. Justin Stout, 31, is being charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the incident.
MPD public information officer Joel DeSpain said bar fights typically occur when the overconsumption of alcohol causes people to seek out a dispute.
A lot of these things that we see are typically the level of intoxication,"" DeSpain said. ""The blood alcohol content goes up, the judgment goes down [and] people end up getting in these violent confrontations.
