Key West Gas Leak Triggers Tavern Brawl
Police report does not identify party who dealt it
JUNE 13--A brawl in a popular Key West bar was touched off “due to someone farting,” 
according to a police report.
As detailed by a patrolman, two groups of patrons at Sloppy Joe’s squared off Monday following a dispute over someone passing gas. One combatant, Sandra Lee Stoner, 55, told police “the argument was over a ‘fart.’”
Stoner was drinking with boyfriend Richard McBride, 53, and friends when “an argument occurred with another couple” in Sloppy Joe’s. The fart-based dispute escalated to fisticuffs and McBride was struck in the face by an unknown man.
McBride is pictured at right in a mug shot taken earlier this year following his arrest on a misdemeanor battery charge.
McBride, cops say, tackled the unidentified assailant and the duo fell to the ground, where they were pulled apart by bouncers. McBride reportedly dislocated his shoulder during the fight and was transported to the Lower Keys Medical Center for treatment.
The couple who tangled with Stoner and McBride left Sloppy Joe’s before cops arrived.
In a hospital interview with police, McBride declined to press charges against the man who slugged him in the face. A cop noted that McBride and Stoner both had bloodshot eyes and a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage on their person.”
The Key West Police Department report does not address who may have dealt it. (2 pages)
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