Bar brawl started with karaoke slap

BEAVERTON, Ore., May 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in Oregon said a bar brawl that required 12 police officers to break it up started when a man slapped a woman singing karaoke.

Sgt. David Thompson, a spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, said deputies and police were called to the Azteca Restaurant near Beaverton at about 2:20 a.m. Tuesday to stop a fight that involved beer bottles and chairs being used as weapons, The (Portland) Oregonian reported Tuesday.

Thompson said the brawl started after Yemby Gomez, 29, slapped the woman on the buttocks as she sang karaoke. The woman's husband confronted Gomez and a fight broke out among two large groups of bar patrons.

The spokesman said the seven Beaverton officers and five sheriff's deputies halted the brawl after bouncers failed to quell it with pepper spray.

Gomez, who received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital, was arrested and charged with riot, second-degree disorderly conduct and harassment. Six others were arrested on riot and second-degree disorderly conduct charges, Thompson said.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is investigating allegations that the bar served alcohol to minors, Thompson said.