Early Sunday morning, a bar fight at the Gym Bar, 2510 E. Hunt Highway, led to the bar manager being assaulted and a 56-year-old female bar patron hospitalized with serious head injuries. Two suspects were arrested at the scene.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 Communication Center received a report of a fight in-progress at the Gym Bar and Grill at 2:10 a.m. Deputies arrived and found a 56-year-old female unconscious in the parking lot in front of the bar. Witnesses identified a 35-year-old male, Christopher Russell, as the person who punched the woman, causing her to collapse and hit her head on the pavement. Russell was taken into custody immediately by deputies.
The bar manager reported that a second man, Mark Melanson, a 24-year-old San Tan Valley Resident, had caused a disturbance inside the bar at closing time. When the bar manager asked him to leave, Melanson took a swing at the manager, missing him. Other patrons intervened and convinced Melanson to leave. The manager exited the bar behind Melanson and got in to another altercation with Melanson. During the altercation, Melanson punched the bar manager causing him to fall backwards. The manager got back up and saw Christopher Russell approaching him.