Man Injured in Restaurant Fight Dies

Eric Rhea, who was injured last Sunday in a fracas outside a Redondo Beach restaurant, died Thursday.

Police are continuing to investigate. No arrests have been made.

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, who represent Rhea’s family.

According to police, Rhea, 22, a Venice resident, was injured in a free-for-all that erupted outside the Red Onion restaurant shortly before 2 a.m.

Police said participants in the melee included Rhea and two companions and a group of customers, including one who had confronted Rhea and one of his friends a few minutes earlier, inside.

The attorneys for the Rhea family say the fight was not a free-for-all. They say Rhea and his friends, all of them black, were jumped by a group of eight to 12 whites as they exited the bar following the altercation inside. The attorneys say racial animosity may have been a factor in the brawl.

Barry, who said he will file a suit against the restaurant, asserted that restaurant employees knew trouble was waiting outside for the three blacks and should have protected them.

The attorney for the Red Onion, however, said that the incident was unfortunate but that the restaurant was not at fault.

The lawyer, Stephen Warren Solomon, said Red Onion employees had urged Rhea and his companions “to stay inside and they didn’t heed his advice. Had Eric Rhea stayed inside, the incident would not have happened.”

Police investigators, however, said earlier in the week that restaurant employees had told the antagonists to leave by separate exits in an effort to prevent further fighting.