3-Year-Old's Party Turns Into Huge Bloody Brawl
More than 20 cops called in to end 75-person melee in Ohio.
Sept. 29. 2010— -- Police in Ohio walked into a hail of broken beer bottles and flying fists when called to respond to a blood-soaked brawl involving 75 people at a 3-year-old's birthday party.
More than 20 officers from seven police departments were called to the scene in Elmwood Place, Ohio, early Tuesday and had to wait before entering the social hall as a melee of flying bottles and chairs erupted inside.
"When officers arrived there it was a pretty intense fight going on inside. They actually had to wait until they got back-up there in order to make entry because there were so many people throwing bottles and chairs so they had to actually wait," Chief William Peskin of Elmwood Place Police told reporters.
Fifteen of the 150 people attending the party were injured, according to police, and five were treated at a hospital including one man who required eye surgery after being hit with a broken bottle. The other four were treated for cuts and released.
"Anywhere you could think of there was blood and broken glass," said Peskin. "We were told there was one gentleman who stood in the back of the room throwing bottles until he didn't have any more in front of him."
None of the 30 children at the party sustained injuries, police said.
The fight started around 1 a.m. at a Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall when tensions flared between the father of the 3-year-old birthday girl, Joselyn, and her mother's new boyfriend.
Despite the number of people involved, only one man, the girl's father Roman Marcelo-Hernandez, 26, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated.
By late Tuesday, staff at the Eagles Lodge were sweeping up broken glass and mopping up dried puddles of blood.Strewn among the debris were princess-themed decorations and goody bags prepared for the children at the party.
"They seemed like they were nice people. I talked one or two of them. They were asking me to help them move in stuff for the party, microwaves and things. They seemed like nice normal people," Jesse, an employee at the Eagles Lodge told ABC News affiliate WCPO-TV.
