Thanksgiving was off to a rocky start for patrons of City Side nightclub at 12:46 a.m. thanks to two men reportedly starting fights for no apparent reason.
Officer Patrick McGourty was stationed on River Street when a bouncer from the nightclub at 74 S Main St. came running over to him, reporting a fight inside the nightclub on the second floor.
McGourty called in for assistance and entered the building, finding the manager, David Goulin, struggling with a man, later identified as David Elliot, 31, of 97 Angell Road, Cumberland. Goulin said the man had started a fight with a group inside the club.
McGourty told Elliot he was under arrest, but the man resisted, and McGourty had to wrestle him to the floor, where door staff helped him subdue Elliot and handcuff him.
As McGourty secured Elliot and stood up, he observed the club staff now struggling with a second man, later identified as Elliot's friend, Gerald Haselton, 37, of 121 Railroad Ave., Apt. 119B, who had also just started a fight with other patrons. McGourty assisted the staff members, wrestling Haselton to the ground as well, and he also resisted arrest, and Officer Scott Bourgoin, who had just arrived, helped him subdue and handcuff Haselton.
After the two were arrested, Gouin told McGourty that he'd put extra staff on that night to deal with a busy Thanksgiving crowd. He said when his staff informed him Elliot and Hassleton were starting fights, he asked them to leave, and when Elliot refused, he tried to escort Elliot out, creating the struggle McGourty had witnessed on entering.
A patron at the club told McGourty that Haselton had "sucker punched" him in the face. He said he had never met Haselton before that evening, and the attack was unprovoked.
Haselton was charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Elliot was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
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