Five charged in fights at carnival
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:40 AM PDT
MEDFORD (AP) — The carnival left town, but a piece of thumb was left behind.
The authorities were called shortly after midnight Sunday to break up a fight involving drunken, off-duty carnival workers reportedly arguing about taking breaks. During the fight, a 49-year-old man from Santa Cruz, Calif., had the tip of his thumb bitten off, Medford police Lt. Tim Doney said.
A police dog named Tiko later found the flesh, but surgeons at Rogue Valley Medical Center could not reattach it and had to remove the exposed bone, Lt. Tim Doney said.
Roughly 10 hours after the first fight, the man and his brother were attacked by four other carnies as they prepared to depart Medford. The man with the newly disfigured thumb got hit in the face with a tree branch and was kicked and punched until a woman driving by scared the attackers off by honking her horn and calling 9-1-1, Doney said.
Bryan Sayward, 21; Joseph Polach, 37; and James Neal, 24, were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, harassment and assault.
The three, who lack permanent addresses, all remained in the Jackson County jail Monday on $35,000 bail each.
After searching the carnival grounds, police found Donald Johnson, 35, hiding under a semi-trailer. Johnson, the man suspected of swinging the branch, was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and assault.
