A wedding celebration at a Boardman restaurant, Aqua Pazzo, escalated into a brawl involving around 20 people, leading to the arrest of three men. FOX8 reported that the altercation took place on Saturday night, drawing a response from all night-shift officers with the Boardman Police Department at around 10 p.m. Upon their arrival, officers encountered a chaotic scene of guests yelling and a group preparing to fight outside the main entrance.
An officer resorted to using pepper spray "to prevent any violence," according to the incident report obtained by FOX8. The situation continued to escalate, compelling officers to call for backup from neighboring jurisdictions as they struggled to disperse the increasingly agitated crowd. Among the three men arrested was Alexander Holmes, who reportedly refused to comply with police orders to vacate the premises and subsequently resisted arrest, leading to a felony charge of obstructing official business and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, as WKBN detailed.
Speros Theofilos was also taken into custody after he was said to have aggressively approached officers and punched one in the neck. Reports by 21-WFMJ noted that officers had to deploy a stun gun to subdue Theofilos before he was arrested on charges including felony assault on a police officer. Another individual, identified as John Holmes, faced a first-degree misdemeanor charge of assault after allegedly assaulting another guest.
Support from surrounding law enforcement agencies was vital in gaining control of the situation, with units from Beaver, Canfield, Poland, Austintown, Springfield, Mill Creek MetroParks, and the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office responding to the scene. "About 40-50 people were leaving the restaurant, and police described them all as irate, stating they 'appeared to be getting more upset and angry,'" FOX8 reported. Emergency medical services were present to tend to any injuries, though specific details on the number or severity of the injuries were not provided in the reports. All arrested parties are expected to be arraigned on the following Tuesday.
