WARWICK, RI — Officers Jeffrey Taranto and David Waddington were called to the Grid Iron Ale House, 1599 Post Road, at 1:56 a.m. April 4 for a report of a fight in the bar, arresting a Warwick man who punched a fellow patron suddenly, charging him with simple assault.
Waddington met up with the person reporting the attack in the parking lot outside the bar, according to the officer’s report. Waddington noted the 32-year-old man had a lump on the side of his face.
The man told Waddington that John Mahoney, 44, had walked up to him in the bar and punched him without warning. The had been no argument, the man said. Mahoney had simply walked up to him and punched him while they were talking. He pointed out Mahoney’s car in the lot, where Mahoney was sitting in the driver’s seat, according to the report.
Waddington walked to the car and asked Mahoney to step out to talk about the attack in the bar. Mahoney denied that anything had occurred. However, another officer reviewed video footage from earlier in the evening showing Mahoney attack the man, according to the officer’s report.
In the video, it appeared that the two were talking followed by a sudden attack by Mahoney, who swung at and hit the man, knocking him to the ground. The video showed Mahoney punched the man in the face twice before the fight was broken up and the men were escorted from the bar.
The victim said he had been concerned that Mahoney appeared extremely jealous that he had been friendly with their mutual friend, and asked him if he was all right. Mahoney responded with the sucker-punch, according to the officer’s report.
Waddington arrested Mahoney and transported him to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where he admitted to punching the man.
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