Ohio Wedding Devolves Into Massive Brawl, Drawing Police From Four Separate Departments

Weddings typically bring families together, but the opposite happened during a reception in Ohio when a massive brawl broke out, requiring a response from four different police departments.

On August 21, Westlake Police got a call around 8:50 p.m. that a massive fight had broken out at a local wedding venue. In camera footage obtained by WOIO from inside the building, chairs can be seen getting thrown at other people while one man grabs a butter knife from one of the place settings and appears to charge toward the camera.

“I don’t know what he was thinking, but it is a weapon,” Westlake Police Captain Jerry Vogel told News 5 in a report posted on August 26. “It’s a piece of metal that could be used to hurt someone.”

The outlet reported that once officers arrived, they found the brawl had spilled out into the parking lot where about 45 people were standing. They immediately called for mutual aid from surrounding departments to handle the large crowd and conduct their investigation.

In body camera footage, one man claimed he was dancing when four brothers jumped him. The fight appeared to stem from bad blood between the families, including a previous incident that resulted in one of the guests receiving a temporary restraining order. According to Vogel, the man was supposed to leave the venue but didn’t, which caused tension among the guests.

When it was all said and done, three arrests were made. A 47-year-old Cleveland man was arrested for violating the protection order, a 46-year-old from Michigan was arrested for assault and inducing panic, and a 48-year-old Ohio man was charged with aggravated menacing.

WOIO reported that two people were taken to a nearby hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Once the arrests were made and the police got everything under control, the wedding reception continued and guests proceeded with the celebration.