Men beat victim with baseball bat in Five Points bar fight, police say

Columbia police arrested two men Tuesday morning after they say the pair beat a victim with a baseball bat outside a local bar and hurt another man who tried to intervene.

Frankie McDonald, 23, and Damon Wells, 17, were charged with 2nd-degree assault and battery by mob, according to the Columbia Police Department.

The incident happened at about 11:30 p.m. Monday. Officers responded to Greene Street in Five Points and found two 20-year-old men outside with visible injuries.

One man was more seriously injured, officials said – with cuts and bleeding visible on his head. EMS responded and took both victims to the hospital.

Witnesses told law enforcement the more seriously injured victim had been arguing with at least two people inside Pavlov’s Bar on Greene Street. As the man left the bar, the suspects hit him repeatedly with a baseball bat, officials said. The second victim was injured when he tried to break up the fight.

The suspects then drove away in an SUV, witnesses told police. A witness described the vehicle to responding officers and gave them its license plate number.

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, an officer on patrol spotted the vehicle at the intersection of Bluff and Bates roads. McDonald and Wells were arrested at about 3 a.m.

Both men were transported to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. A judge set bond for both suspects at $50,000 at a hearing Wednesday.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 3:40 PM.