LAVA HOT SPRINGS — Two out-of-state men have been charged in connection with a Fourth of July weekend brawl outside a Lava Hot Springs bar that left a man with four teeth knocked out, authorities say.
Brian Wayne Halford, 20, of West Monroe, Utah, has been charged with one count of felony aggravated battery, and Cletus Nathaniel Clay, 18, of Pioneer, Louisiana, has been charged with one count of felony aggravated assault following the July 3 incident near 289 E. 1st Alley South, according to court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.
The investigation began around 11:30 p.m. when Bannock County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to downtown Lava Hot Springs for the report of a disturbance in which occupants of a white Dodge Ram had “jumped” a man and knocked out his teeth, according to the incident report.
Deputies made contact with a woman near the hotel who said the victim was upstairs.
Deputies responded to the second floor and located the victim, who had blood all over his face, arms and legs and multiple teeth missing, the incident report says. Deputies later located four teeth on the asphalt outside and collected them in a plastic evidence bag to be returned to the victim's family so they could attempt to have them replaced, deputies said.
A witness told deputies he had been talking to the victim when another man approached them and the victim was sucker-punched without warning in what the witness described as a cheap shot, though it remains unclear exactly who threw the punch, the incident report says.
Video of the altercation obtained by deputies showed Halford on top of the victim, striking him multiple times in the face with a closed fist, according to the incident report. A second altercation involving Clay was also captured on video, deputies said.
The two groups were not known to each other prior to the incident and the altercation stemmed from a confrontation that began when a man from Halford and Clay's group made unwanted advances toward a woman who was with the victim's group, deputies said. The woman told deputies she repeatedly told the man she was married and to leave her alone, but he persisted, according to the incident report.
The incident began to unfold when Halford, Clay and a woman attempted to enter the Rooftop Bar but were turned away by a bouncer because they were under 21, the incident report says. After being turned away, Clay, Halford and others in their group went downstairs where the altercation occurred, deputies said.
A witness on the ground-level patio told deputies the fight broke out after a man from the group made unwanted advances toward a woman, which led to a verbal confrontation between the two groups, according to the incident report. When the physical fight broke out, the witness said he heard a click from the direction of the suspects' truck, followed by a pop, and took cover behind a cement wall, deputies said.
Video showed that after Clay was beaten during the fight, he got up, went to the white Dodge and retrieved a pistol, which he then waved in the air, according to the incident report. Bystanders could be heard yelling "gun" in the background, deputies said. It was this act that resulted in the aggravated assault charge against Clay, according to court records.
When asked later if he remembered pulling a gun from the truck, Clay told deputies, "If I grabbed it, I don't remember," according to the incident report.
Clay told deputies he had been jumped by five or six people during the fight, was struck in the back of the head and kicked in the neck and back while on the ground, and remembered getting up and getting into the truck but did not remember what he did after that, deputies said.
Deputies located the truck on northbound Interstate 15 near mile post 49 and stopped it, making contact with Halford and the woman, deputies said. Halford was taken into custody for aggravated battery and transported to the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello, the report says, adding that Clay was later located in a parking lot in Malad and taken into custody by a state trooper before being transported to Portneuf Medical Center for medical clearance and then to the Bannock County Jail, deputies said.
Clay and Halford appeared before 6th District Magistrate Judge David A. Hooste for separate arraignment hearings Monday via video conference from the Bannock County Jail where their bonds were each set at $10,000. Both men posted the bond later that day and were released from jail.
Both men are scheduled to appear in court again July 14 for preliminary hearings. Prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate their cases from the magistrate to district court for trial.
If convicted of felony aggravated battery, Halford faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. The aggravated assault charge Clay faces is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.