By Patrick Mcardle
RUTLAND HERALD
RUTLAND, Vt. — A White River Junction man is facing a felony charge after police said he broke a man’s jaw during a fight at the Pickle Barrel Night Club in Killington on March 6.
Isaac McEwan, 23, pleaded not guilty on Monday in Rutland criminal court to a felony count of aggravated assault, a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct for fighting and a misdemeanor count of unlawful trespass.
McEwan was released without bail but ordered not to have contact with the man he’s accused of hitting and not to enter the Pickle Barrel.
The charges against McEwan are based on an affidavit written by Chief Robert Montgomery, of the Killington Police Department, who said Christopher Karr, owner of the Pickle Barrel, had contacted him around 4:45 p.m. March 6 to report an alleged assault that had happened at the night club on the same day around 1:30 a.m.
Montgomery said he asked that any security footage be preserved so police could review it.
According to the affidavit, Montgomery spoke with staff members March 12.
The employees said there had been a group of people, most of them men and one woman, who had been been involved in a confrontation of some kind and were being escorted outside by security staff. The situation began to escalate in the parking lot and a man working as a security guard, Benjamin Reid, was allegedly hit by McEwan.
The affidavit said an attorney, Nikki South, called the Killington Police Department on March 16 to say she represents McEwan. South told police McEwan learned through social media about the allegation. She asked for a meeting with police between herself and McEwan.
On March 18, South, McEwan and McEwan’s girlfriend, Laura M. Shaw, 31, spoke with Robertson.
McEwan told police that he and Shaw had been waiting for friends in the parking lot at the Pickle Barrel. He said after waiting for an extended time, they went inside and found one of the friends was “pretty drunk” and had been asked to leave.
The situation escalated and “everyone started yelling, and it turned into an angry mob of people,” McEwan said, according to the affidavit.
McEwan said the group of people were forced outside, and he believed one of the bouncers was “coming after” one of his inebriated friends. McEwan allegedly admitted to punching the bouncer.
Shaw told police that during the confrontation, McEwan “got put into a choke hold.” She said she was grabbed but was let go after she said she was pregnant.
The affidavit said she said she was “trying to stand between all the bouncers and Isaac and our friend trying to keep it from escalating.” The affidavit does not say whether Shaw saw McEwan hit Reid.
Montgomery said he tried to speak to two of the other men who were friends with McEwan and allegedly involved in the situation but one declined to speak with him and another did not return calls.
The affidavit said police received videos from the Pickle Barrel on March 15.
One of the videos shows McEwan approach Reid from behind and and punch him in the right side of the head.
Montgomery said he received medical files on April 28 that described Reid’s injuries. Reid was initially treated at Rutland Regional Medical Center and then treated at Albany Medical Center. His injuries were described as an “acute fracture of the right anterior mandibular body and right mandibular angle with adjacent soft tissue swelling and soft tissue gas” and a “minimally displaced jaw fracture.”
Reid underwent surgery on March 15 in Albany to repair his jaw. He was unable to eat solid food through April.
He provided a statement that said he was working at the Pickle Barrel on March 5. He said there was a group of people who were being asked to leave but who refused to go. While dealing with one of the people in the group, another came up behind him and hit him in the right side of his face, Reid said in his statement.
The aggravated assault charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail if McEwan is convicted. The fighting charge is punishable by up to six months in jail and the trespassing charge carries a maximum penalty of three months in jail.
According to court records, McEwan has a conviction for disorderly conduct for fighting and simple assault and a conviction from a second docket for simple assault from a mutual fight, both from Windsor County. He pleaded guilty to the charges in both dockets in January 2021.
patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com
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