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Three men in barroom brawl and police talk

Gregory Crofton, Tribune staff writer

Three men involved in a barroom brawl that left five people injured have recently been in contact with police.

The bar fight broke out June 21 at My Cousin’s Joint after insults were exchanged. Four men were stabbed and one was severely beaten with a pool cue.

Steve Pagliaro, a participant in the bar brawl, was arrested Oct. 24 for allegedly punching a co-worker in the head. South Lake Tahoe Police Detective Martin Hewlett said the impact broke several of the 45-year-old’s teeth and that he had to be Careflighted to Washoe Medical Center because of neck and head pain.



The man reportedly told police that Pagliaro hit him for not getting his work done fast enough. Pagliaro, 33, was working as a carpet installer at the time, police said.

Pagliaro is also a suspect in a grand theft case. A warrant has been issued for his arrest stemming from the theft of the 45-year-old’s keys. His key chain reportedly held a memento valued at $400.



In an unrelated case, two men also involved in the bar fight, Ricardo Hernandez, 26, and Jose Ortega, 35, reported to police that they were threatened with a gun Nov. 14 while walking north on Larch Avenue.

The men reported the incident two days later and reportedly told them that a man with a shaved head drove by in red two-door car and said to them: “What are you looking at, Mexican?” The man was reportedly 6-feet tall, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. Hernandez and Ortega said they left the area when he flashed what looked like a chrome semi-automatic gun.

In July, Ricardo Hernandez and his brother Javier, 34, were charged with assault with a deadly weapon because of their involvement in the fight at My Cousin’s Joint. They were both found not guilty of the crime in September.


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