Dispute over beer may have led to assault
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:42 PM PDT
By Leslie Slape
Printable version
E-mail this articleA trio of co-workers were drinking beer at a house in Toutle on Tuesday night when the party turned ugly.
Two of the men beat up the third when he told them he wouldn’t buy any more beer, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s office.
The victim, 24, told deputies Elvis Alfredo Matias Lopez, 25, and Francisco Matias Lucas, 30, punched and kicked him in the face.
The victim told deputies he stumbled to Drew’s Grocery, where an employee took one look at his bloody face and called 911. A doctor at St. John Medical Center told deputies the victim had a broken nose, bruises to his elbows and left rib area, and numerous scrapes.
The victim said he and his assailants work for Campian Greens picking salal, a berry bush common in the woods of Western Washington.
Deputies went to the 5000 block of Spirit Lake Memorial Highway and found pickups full of salal and a box of empty beer bottles, the report said.
Deputies said Matias Lucas said the victim was at the house drinking with them, but Matias Lopez, who was interviewed separately, claimed to have never met the victim.
Both were booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree assault, with bail set at $10,000.
pinky wrote on Aug 28, 2008 8:45 AM:
SPARROW wrote on Aug 28, 2008 11:02 AM:
Silly Billy wrote on Aug 28, 2008 11:27 AM:
pinky wrote on Aug 28, 2008 12:00 PM:
SPARROW wrote on Aug 28, 2008 12:31 PM:
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