Two men were arrested Monday morning in connection to a fight outside Crave Restaurant and Lounge early Sunday morning that left a 27-year-old man with life-threatening injuries.
Roynell Fuller, 19, has been charged with substantial battery and Ross Spang, 22, a Crave employee, is also charged with substantial battery and being party to a crime.
The victim has been identified by his hometown newspaper, the DeLand-Deltona Beacon, as Eduardo Cademartori, a Florida native and highly regarded race car mechanic who had been in Madison for a week for training with his team.
According to a police report, the incident started at Crave, and the victim left by himself. Three men followed him to the corner of State and Johnson streets where the victim was hit with a blow to the head.
When police arrived, the man was unconscious and appeared to have suffered severe head trauma.
The fight occurred just one block from the site of a September homicide in outside the Plaza Tavern where Juan Bernal, 22, of Madison, was stabbed and killed.
Capt. Mary Schauf of the Madison Police Department’s central district said unfortunately bar time violence is not new to Madison, but most incidents do not escalate like the most recent one.
“It’s always that fine line,” Schauf said. “You just never know when the tipping point is going to be reached.”
Schauf said police have interviewed all of the staff at Crave as well as witnesses, but details will not be made public for now.
Calls to the management at Crave Monday night went unreturned.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said about 10 police cars responded to the scene on Sunday morning around 2 a.m., and more than a dozen officers worked interviewing witnesses present at the scene.
As of Monday evening, investigators were still looking for the third man involved to talk to him about the incident, Schauf said.
“They’re still investigating what sort of led up to the incident,” said Joel DeSpain, MPD spokesperson.
The victim is currently at Meriter Hospital listed in critical condition. Schauf said the situation does not look good.
“The injury is significant, very significant,” she added.
If Cademartori succumbs to his injuries, charges are likely to escalate to homicide, Verveer said.
Court records showed Fuller was charged with possession of cocaine on June 23.
Spang, the Crave employee, has had three operating while intoxicated violations and a number of operating with revoked violations since 2004. He also has two disorderly conduct violations.
As of press time, there were no further updates as to the medical condition of Cademartori.
The DeLand-Deltona Beacon reported Cademartori’s friends in DeLand were keeping a vigil Monday, waiting by their phones for further information.
Anyone with further information regarding this incident is encouraged to call CrimeStoppers at (608) 266-6014.
