Man Near Death After Redondo Beach Brawl

A young man was near death Wednesday after being injured in a melee outside a Redondo Beach restaurant.

Differing versions of the incident have been offered by Redondo Beach police, who have interviewed about a dozen witnesses, and attorneys Clifford Barry and Terri Hutchison. They represent the injured man, Eric Rhea, 22, of Venice. Barry said racism may have been a factor in the incident, but police say that has not been established.

Rhea was in critical condition at South Bay Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, according to a hospital spokesman.

Rhea’s father Philip, who lives in Bellefontaine, Ohio, rushed to Los Angeles after hearing of his son’s injury. He said doctors told him that his son had received a “terrible head blow” and that there was “no brain activity at all. . . . They said his chances were virtually nonexistent.”

Police and the lawyers agree on these facts:

The incident began inside the Red Onion restaurant at King Harbor early Sunday, shortly before its 2 a.m. closing time.

Rhea and two friends, Eric Miles, 24, and his brother Aaron Miles, 21--all of whom are black--were at the bar when Rhea and a white man, who has not been identified, became embroiled in an argument.

Both Redondo Beach Detective Sgt. Mike Minard and attorney Barry said they did not know what started the dispute.

Eric Miles came to Rhea’s aid and the verbal argument escalated into a fistfight between Miles and the white customer. Red Onion bouncers broke up the fight and told the men to leave, ushering them to different exits.

What happened next is not clear.

Minard said that the white customer involved in the fight inside attacked the three black men as they left and that other restaurant patrons were drawn into the imbroglio.

“The place is closing down. People are going out and being pushed and bumped. It turned into a free-for-all. The indication we have is, everybody against everybody. . . . It wasn’t necessarily directed at Eric Rhea, but was just a large number of people fighting,” Minard said.

Minard said that Rhea was kicked or shoved and that he fell and struck his head. That stopped the fight, Minard said. Police, who said they were called by Red Onion employees at 1:41 a.m., arrived shortly afterward and Rhea was taken to the hospital.

“We are still investigating whether the guy who started it did the pushing or shoving or kicking. We have different stories on that. It is a very tangled situation,” he said.

Attorney Barry, however, said it is possible that racial animosity may have been a factor in the brawl.

He and Hutchison said Eric Miles told them that eight to 12 white men jumped the three blacks as soon as they left the restaurant. Miles was not available for comment.

According to Hutchison, Rhea was felled by a karate kick and then several whites kicked and beat him as he lay on the ground outside the restaurant. Hutchison said the fighting ended when police arrived.

Barry, who said a lawsuit against the restaurant is being prepared, accused the Red Onion of failing to protect Rhea. He alleged that restaurant bouncers knew that trouble was waiting outside as Rhea and the Miles brothers prepared to leave.

“What bothers me about the Red Onion is they had security officers telling him, ‘This guy is waiting to blind side you,’ and they still had (Rhea and the Miles brothers) leave the bar,” Barry said.

“There were two security people from the Red Onion, and they should have intervened and they didn’t.”

Red Onion general manager Nick Jovanovich said the fight is “being investigated by the local authorities. That is pretty much all I know.”

Rhea’s father said he wanted the police to investigate to discover if racial antagonism played a role in the incident.

“All I know is my son is in bad shape and he is about to die. If it is racially motivated, it should be found out and action should be taken,” he said.

Minard said police have interviewed Red Onion personnel and patrons and are continuing to seek witnesses. No arrests have been made.

‘We have a lot of unanswered questions,” he said.