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HOCKEY: GARAVENTE SHINES AS RFH TOPS SJV

Rumson-Fair Haven’s Robbie Garavente scored four goals and Conor Deverin added a pair of goals and three assists as the Bulldogs scored eight straight goals after trailing Saint John Vianney 2-1 in the second period. Watch the Shore Sports Zone highlights from the Red Bank Armory.

RFH is ineligible for the state tournament after going over the limit on disqualifications with a December brawl with Red Bank Regional, but the Bulldogs now advance to the semifinals of the Hanchden Cup bracket in the Shore Conference Tournament.

HOCKEY: RFH TOPS RBR AFTER BRAWL

The Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldogs raced to a 5-2 lead at the end of one period before Red Bank Regional scored two straight in the second to get within one goal. An on-ice melee resulted in five ejections (3 from RFH, 2 from RBR). Robbie Garavente scored two goals in the third period including an empty netter to put the game away. Watch the Shore Sports Zone highlights from the Red Bank Armory.

MIDDLETOWN: WEDDING NIGHT BROUHAHA

AUTHORITIES_MTOWN1-2014Two guests were arrested late Sunday night following a melee involving an estimated 300 people at a wedding reception in Middletown, police reported.

Here’s an account of the incident prepared by MTPD spokesman Lieutenant Steve Dollinger:

On July 27, 2014 at approximately 10:30 pm a large fight broke out at a wedding reception being held at Jacques Reception Hall located on Palmer Avenue in Middletown. Sergeant First Class William Colangelo and Patrolman Frank Mazza were working the reception as an off-duty assignment when they were alerted to a fight taking place.

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RED BANK: FIXX LICENSE HEARING POSTPONED

fixx 2 102113A pair of melees involving Fixx patrons prompted a borough move to suspend its liquor license. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Troubled Red Bank nightclub Fixx has bought itself a little more time to work on a legal strategy to prevent a suspension of its liquor license.

Borough attorney Dan O’Hern tells redbankgreen that the bar’s lawyer has requested and been given a postponement of a hearing, originally scheduled for Wednesday night, at which the town council is to conduct a trial over charges related to a pair of closing-time melees in September and October involving the club’s patrons.

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RED BANK: TRIAL ON FIXX LICENSE SLATED

fixx-ext-082411Fixx faces a possible 40-day suspension for two recent brawls. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s governing body is scheduled to decide next month whether to suspend the liquor license of the nightclub Fixx for up to 40 days for two recent closing-time melees, Mayor Pasquale Menna announced Wednesday night.

In addition, the borough was planning to notify the West Front Street bar’s owners on Thursday that they owe the town $33,000 for a tardy response to a fire code violation earlier this year, Administrator Stanley Sickels told redbankgreen.

Because the council will act as the equivalent of a jury at a hearing on alleged violations of state Alcohol and Beverage Control laws relating to brawls on September 22 and October 6, Menna and borough Attorney Dan O’Hern advised council members not to comment on the case.

But that didn’t stop neighbor Tony Busch Sr. from teeing up the bar, which has been the scene of two wide-ranging brawls in the past month. The most recent, early Sunday morning, required 25 cops from towns as far away as Keyport and  Long Branch, as well as eight Red Bank cops, to quell.

“What’s going on here is tantamount to a terrorist attack,” said Busch, one of five homeowners living above the Work Out World gym next door to Fixx. “This is getting worse by the day. And it’s very tough for the town, because we’re not set up for a terrorist attack.”

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RED BANK: FIXX MELEE CAUGHT ON VIDEO

A video purporting to be from the Sunday morning melee outside Red Bank’s Fixx nightclub was posted to YouTube Tuesday. WARNING: Coarse language throughout.

Mayor Pasquale Menna tells redbankgreen that the borough council is planning to take strong action against the bar Wednesday night. (Click to enlarge)

MENNA: FIXX OWNERS ‘THUMBING THEIR NOSE’ AT RED BANK, WILL FACE SWIFT LEGAL ACTION

dogs-of-pavlov-fixxA 2009 view of the interior at Fixx. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03Legal action against Red Bank nightclub Fixx could come as early as Wednesday in the aftermath of the second closing-time melee in two weeks early Sunday morning, Mayor Pasquale Menna tells redbankgreen.

Menna said he had ordered borough departments to report on “all incidents and violations” involving the West Front Street club since January 1, with an eye toward a possible announcement of legal action at Wednesday night’s bimonthly meeting of the mayor and council.

“I’m prepared to take action to ending this completely unacceptable business model,” Menna said Monday. Unruly behavior by bar patrons “is obviously being condoned” its owners, he added.

“The owners have been thumbing their noses at the municipality,” he said. “They can’t control their business. It’s time for the state to step in and control their business.”

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RED BANK: MORE BRAWLS AT FIXX

rb fixx 100613Eatontown police joined cops from as far away as Keyport and Long Branch in backing up Red Bank’s response to the melee at Fixx. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

AUTHORITIES_RB2For the second time in two weeks, Red Bank nightclub Fixx was the source of a sprawling melee early Sunday, one that required the help of cops from as far away as Keyport and Long Branch to get under control, police said.

Fights that began inside the troubled West Front Street club spilled out into the street at about 1:30 a.m. and spread, said Captain Darren McConnell.

RBPD called in help from numerous northern Monmouth County towns, with about 25 officers from as far away as Keyport and Long Branch racing into town to help the Red Bank force quell the violence, he said.

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RED BANK: BRAWL INJURES FIVE NEAR FIXX

By JOHN T. WARD

AUTHORITIES_RB2Three suspects and two Red Bank cops wound up in the emergency room early Sunday morning as a result of another closing-time brawl among patrons of the nightclub Fixx, police said Tuesday.

Multiple fights, which occurred during a downpour around 2 a.m., yielded a host of criminal charges.

Among them: escaping custody, for suspect who fled with his hands cuffed behind him.

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PRESS: NO INDICTMENT IN RBR BRAWL

A Monmouth County grand jury declined to indict a Rumson man for his alleged involvement in a bench-clearing brawl at at baseball game at Red Bank Regional in April, the Asbury Park Press reported Saturday.

Actually, the Press says the grand jury “failed” to indict Patrick Maisto, 49, citing his attorney, Mitchell Ansell, as the source.

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ONE ARRESTED IN BRAWL AT RBR v. R-FH GAME

A Rumson man was arrested following a melee during a baseball game at Red Bank Regional High in Little Silver Saturday afternoon, police said.

Patrick Maisto, 49, is alleged to have assaulted a player during a bench-clearing brawl, Little Silver police Lieutenant Bob Frank tells redbankgreen.

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TWO SEA BRIGHT FIREFIGHTERS GET BACKUP

sb-firefighter-fightA frame from a video of the firehouse tussle that landed three Sea Bright volunteers in court on misdemeanor charges. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Sea Bright’s fire chief and a borough councilman have asked the judge in an assault case involving three firefighters not to ban two of the brawlers from the volunteer department.

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BRAWL OUTSIDE CLUB ENDS IN THREE ARRESTS

call-in-the-authoritiesA post-party melee outside a Red Bank social club early Saturday morning drew a police response from at least ten local departments and resulted in three arrests, police report.

Captain Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen that borough officers on patrol at 1:26a came upon the scene of a brawl involving an estimated 60 people outside the Elks Bates Lodge 220, at 306 Shrewsbury Avenue.

The cause of the fracas is unknown, McConnell said, but occurred as a private function was letting out at the lodge.

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