Emergency responders swarmed Skinner St. after a physical confrontation between two groups of people unknown to each other outside the Old City Station Pub on July 27, 2019. (submitted/Terri Cook)

By Ian Holmes

violent altercation

2 men convicted in booze-fuelled beating outside Nanaimo pub

Jul 23, 2020 | 7:04 AM

NANAIMO — Two men were handed suspended sentences for their roles in a brawl outside a downtown Nanaimo pub which left one man with serious stab wounds.

Leonardo Petitti from Calgary and Seth Micah Westergard from the Lower Mainland were given suspended sentences and 18 months probation, after a joint submission was accepted by a provincial court judge in Nanaimo. They both pleaded guilty to downgraded charges of common assault.

Judge Karen Whonnock heard Petitti, Westergard and a third man were outside the Old City Station Pub in the early morning hours of July 27, 2019 after a night of drinking.

A damaging physical altercation without a clear motive broke out when a black pickup truck pulled up in front of the three.

Crown prosecutor Nick Barber said words were briefly exchanged between the trio outside the pub and the truck passengers before two got out.

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Westergard approached one man and began punching the unwilling participant, while Petitti went and punched the other man unconscious.

The third man with Westergard and Petitti then kicked the man who appeared to be unconscious in the head, resulting in non-permanent wounds requiring hospital treatment.

The third man was stabbed by the truck occupant previously pummeled by Westergard. The man suffered serious but non-life threatening wounds.

The truck left and police were on scene within one minute.

Barber said it’s an unusual case.

“It doesn’t appear at all that any of these individuals from either group knew each other. I’m guessing intoxication to a certain degree played a role in this,” Barber said.

Defence lawyer Michael Ritzker said his clients became aggressive after hearing “some type of challenge.”

“My clients may have been the aggressors but they weren’t the instigators in this.”

Ritzker conceded Westergard and Petitti inflicted harm before the men in the truck had the chance to engage.

During the joint submission, Ritzker said the stabbing victim “could have been killed” after being stabbed multiple times.

The Crown’s Barber told NanaimoNewsNOW pursuing the stabbing incident judicially didn’t meet their criteria of a substantial likelihood of a conviction and serving the public’s interest.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes