Two wedding parties fight at hotel, police say

An altercation involving 40 to 50 people from two wedding receptions occurred outside an Eau Claire hotel last month and included the bride, groom and bridesmaid from one of the wedding parties, police said.

The bride and groom each received scrapes, and their clothing was soiled during the scuffle. The bridesmaid grabbed the hair of a female guest from the other wedding reception and pulled her to the ground, police said.

A bartender alerted to the altercation outside tried to intervene but was punched in the face by a guest from one of the receptions, police said.

The punch resulted in misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct charges in Eau Claire County Court against Edward C. Gauthier, 24, of Weyerhaeuser.

Gauthier is free on a $200 signature bond and returns to court Nov. 11.

According to the criminal complaint:

The two wedding receptions were Sept. 4 at the Ramada Convention Center, 205 S. Barstow St.

One reception was on the ground floor while the other was on the lower floor. The only restrooms available for both receptions were on the lower floor.

A guest from the ground-floor reception told police she and two men from their reception went downstairs to use the restrooms.

When she exited the restroom, the woman said, eight to 10 men from the lower-floor reception were confronting her two male friends, accusing them of trying to crash their party.

The outside altercation occurred after the group of men followed the woman and her two male friends upstairs.

Gauthier was identified as the person who struck the bartender based on witnesses' accounts of the shirt he was wearing.

Copyright (c) 2010, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis./Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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