Duo charged with assault
Butler police Monday arrested two men on felony assault charges stemming from last week’s brutal beating outside a city bar that left another man hospitalized in a coma.
Kenneth J. Fetter, 35, and Michael G. Weber, 34, both of Butler, are in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail each.
A third suspect, Virgil M. Luster, 33, of Butler, remains at large.
The defendants are accused of pummeling 36-year-old James Raub and 35-year-old Randolph Dahl around closing time Oct. 29 at My Buddy’s bar on Pillow Street.
Police believe the attack shortly before 2 a.m. followed an altercation earlier that night between the three suspects and the alleged victims in the bar.
That altercation prompted the bartender to throw Fetter, Weber and Luster out of the bar, police said. The trio left but apparently laid in wait nearby.
When Dahl came out, Luster punched him in the face and threw him to the ground, according to court documents.
Fetter and Weber immediately joined in, punching Dahl, police said. A short time later, the same two defendants jumped Raub after he left the bar.
They allegedly knocked Raub to the ground, got on top of him and started “punching him in the face numerous times,” documents said.
Police suspect Fetter and Weber ran off, leaving Raub laying motionless in the middle of the street.
Documents said Luster walked toward the defenseless victim and kicked him in the face before fleeing with his alleged accomplices.
Dahl suffered a swollen lip and was bleeding from the mouth.
However, Raub’s facial injuries were more serious. He was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital before a medical helicopter flew him to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Raub’s mother, the following day, told police that his injuries “were so severe that he required reconstructive surgery to his face, and had to be placed in a medically induced coma,” documents said.
District Judge Sue Haggerty late Monday night arraigned Fetter and Weber on charges of aggravated assault and simple assault.
Meanwhile, police on Monday also obtained an arrest warrant for Luster on the same felony and misdemeanor assault charges.
