Thursday, June 4, 2009

A 44-year-old Key West man was airlifted to a Miami hospital and a Michigan man arrested in a fight that broke out after they left the BottleCap Lounge Liquor Store last weekend.

Craig Perryman of 5600 Laurel Ave., who was to be married the next day, suffered multiple fractures to his face and head and had "air in his brain," a Lower Keys Medical Center nurse told police, reports say. After a CAT scan, he was airlifted to Baptist Hospital of Miami, according to his friend, James Flannagan.

In and out of the hospital in the five days since the incident, Perryman still suffers from pain and seizures, Flannagan said.

Zachary Kenneth Wilson, 24, of Perry, Mich., was charged with one count of felony battery and two counts of misdemeanor battery.

The fight began around 4 a.m. Friday in the parking lot near the bar, apparently between four men and a bar employee who rushed outside to stop the brawl, reports say.

When police arrived, they found Perryman on the ground, with his face and head bleeding.

"We weren't looking for trouble; we were just leaving the BottleCap around closing time," said Flannagan, who said he also was attacked. "We were in the parking lot and these two guys walk up" and said they were looking for a fight, he said.

Flannagan said neither he nor Perryman did anything to provoke the fight.

"We were kind of shocked and we said, 'Hey, this is Key West and that's not the smartest thing to do. Maybe you guys should go away.' We turned away and that's when I got knocked out cold."

Flannagan, who operates Living Dolls, a nude personal dance club on Fleming Street, said he often works nights and "knows trouble and how to avoid it."

When Flannagan regained consciousness, he said one of the men was "beating the piss out of Craig."

"One guy was doing everything," Flannagan said. "He was bragging about being a street fighter. The other guy was just standing there."

One man was armed with a rock and a plastic pipe, according to a police report, but it's unclear who that was or how either might have been used in the incident.

When a bar worker, Jason Walck, ran outside to help, Wilson allegedly grabbed him by the neck and hit him in the face with his knee, knocking him out, reports say. Walck allegedly had grabbed the pipe and thrown it across the street before he was knocked out. Wounds to his face reportedly required stitches.

Perryman reportedly told police that before he was knocked out, he saw one man hit Flannagan in the head with a rock. Perryman remembers regaining consciousness only to be knocked out again, reports say.

"Craig got the worst of it. His nose was broke in two places, his eye is swollen shut and he was in a lot of pain," Flannagan said. "I've been working on the streets at night for two years now and I've seen a lot of crazy stuff go on, but this was just crazy. What was crazy was it happened to us."

Flannagan added, "We're not street thugs; we weren't out looking for trouble. Anyone who knows us will tell you that."

Wilson was released from the Monroe County jail on Stock Island on Tuesday on $50,000 bond. His next court appearance has yet to be scheduled.

alinhardt@keysnews.com