2 Men Arrested in Parking Lot Brawl

A bloody parking lot brawl involving 20 young men outside a Starbucks was instigated by a customer allegedly hurling a racial epithet at an Asian employee, authorities said Tuesday.

The man accused of making the remark, Jeremiah Pope, received a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone in the melee that occurred about 8 p.m. Monday at 2755 Agoura Road in Thousand Oaks, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike De Los Santos.

Pope, 20, was allegedly beaten with a baseball bat by one of two men arrested at the scene, De Los Santos said. Pope’s friend, Thomas Miller, 20, received cuts and bruises. A full-size bat and a small, souvenir bat were recovered.

The victims were treated and released Monday night from Los Robles Regional Medical Center, De Los Santos said.

“We’re looking at it as an assault with a deadly weapon case. We don’t know what was said and what motivated what,” he said.

Edward Alarcon, 19, of North Hills and Christian Maher, 20, of Woodland Hills were arrested in connection with the fight and each were being held in lieu of $20,000 bail, De Los Santos said.

He refused to identify the Starbucks employee except to say he is an Agoura Hills resident. The employee and Pope fought earlier Monday over the alleged remark and then arranged to fight again after the employee got off work, De Los Santos said.

The Starbucks employee, who hasn’t been seen since the brawl, called a friend who, in turn, contacted several San Fernando Valley men for help at the brawl, De Los Santos said.

It was unclear how many men were on each side of the altercation, he said, adding the incident is not believed to be gang-related.