Union Grove

Union Grove man charged in bar brawl

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 2 for a Union Grove man charged with beating two people in a “mob-mentality” fight outside a Racine bar in September.

Marshawn J. Thurman, 27, was charged Oct. 23 in Racine County Circuit Court with two counts of substantial battery as a party to a crime.

According to the criminal complaint, Thurman is among about 15 people who surrounded and beat two people outside Coasters Bar in Racine on Sept. 17. Police obtained surveillance video from the bar that showed a man and a woman leaving the bar at about 2:20 a.m. In the video, it appears the female victim had a verbal exchange with several women on Hubbard Street, and then she and her male companion were surrounded by about 15 people as they walked to their car, according to the complaint

“At this point it is clear that a ‘mob mentality’ has taken over as (the victims) are surrounded and left no escape route,” the complaint reads.

The video shows the man pinned against his car while Thurman punches him at least three times in the head, according to the complaint.

Ashley Britson, 29, of Racine, is seen on the video punching the woman, grabbing her hair and slamming her head-first onto the pavement and then punching her upper body multiple times, according to the complaint.

Ernest Castro, 27, of Racine, can be seen punching the man in the head, kicking the woman in the upper body and head and stomping on her as Britson pinned her to the ground. Castro is about 6 feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds, according to the complaint.

As the man and woman were being actively assaulted, a man is seen picking up the woman’s cell phone and purse and running from the scene, according to the complaint.

Both victims received medical treatment. The woman had a concussion, and the man received several stitches to close a cut over his eye, according to the complaint.

When police questioned Thurman about the incident, he said he was drunk and tried breaking the fight up, according to the complaint. When an officer told Thurman he saw Thurman punch the man numerous times on video, Thurman said, “If I hit the dude, it wasn’t personal. It was just the alcohol,” according to the complaint.

For additional court news, see the Oct. 27 edition of the Westine Report.

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