Knife fight breaks out at local restaurant

Man charged with assaulting his co-worker brother

By LISA BEISEL, Staff Writer

Published 07/24/08

A man was charged with assault yesterday afternoon after police said he attacked his brother with a butcher knife at El Toro Bravo restaurant on West Street.

Officers were called to the restaurant at about 2:20 p.m. Witnesses said two brothers, who work in the kitchen, got into an argument. Armando Urbal, 31, apparently told his younger brother to mop the floor, and the younger one became upset and attacked him with a knife, according to police reports.

The older brother struggled and received only some minor cuts to his arms, police said.

Luis Alberto Mojica, 17, of Martha Court, was charged with first- and second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, according to online court records. He was charged as an adult due to the seriousness of the offenses, police said.

Neither man spoke much English and police officers called in a Hispanic liaison to translate the victim's statement. The victim told the interpreter this has happened before.

"The victim says his brother does have an anger problem," said Officer Hal Dalton, a city Police Department spokesman. "It's usually not this bad. But he has reacted violently before to directions and instructions."

Fights in restaurants are a concern because of the easy access to weapons, he said.

"There are so many weapons at your disposal in a kitchen," he said.

The knife used in the fight was a large butcher knife from the kitchen, according to reports. No one else was injured in the fight.

Monica Meza, who works at the restaurant, said the brothers frequently argued but it had never before became violent.

"It was just about two brothers fighting, that's all," she said.

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Immigration - 2008-07-28 11:11:04

Three Cheers for Brian Armstrong,
I still cannot understand why some people have such a hard time understanding the word ILLEGAL!!! If you rob a bank you are doing something that is illegal correct?? Well if you are here in this country illegally you are committing a crime also. Do you think we should let one person get away with committing an illegal action over the other just because one was not as severe as the other?? My grandfather came to this country as a boy from Italy. He worked and became a United States Citizen and he will tell you that the proudest day in his life was the day he became a citizen of the US. Oh and by the way, he learned how to speak English BEFORE he came to this country so that he could communicate with the citizens of this country that he WANTED to be a PART of!!! Illegal's do NOT want to be a part of this country, they only want to make money here to send home and then leave after 3-4 years. They are not the ones who are trying to become citizens legally here, they are the one's who care nothing about our country except for how much money they can earn and send back to their real country. The ones who want to be here leagally are the one's who are learning the English language and are learning about the United States of America. They, like my grandfather thirst for this freedom and life and will do whatever it takes to become a legal US citizen.

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Liz G. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

Whatever. - 2008-07-26 09:37:14

TWilliams, YOUR state has chased away illegal aliens and now they are flooding into Maryland. They evade our taxes, abuse taxpayer funded services such as emergency health care and public education, and are here ILLEGALLY. Maryland tip-toes around the issue of illegal immigration, and refuses to inquire about immigration status, often even when a crime is committed. I just thought the state police could use this opportunity to prove it indeed is taking measures to protect the legal, taxpaying citizens of Maryland.

And no, I am far from a racist. Sorry that my dislike of illegal aliens invading my state labels me as such in your eyes.

And I am quite educated. My guess is far more educated than you.

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Brian Armstrong - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

TWilliams - 2008-07-25 20:18:58

Suzanne and Brian, your responses clearly indicate that you are none other than paranoid racists. Millions of U.S. citizens with Spanish surnames live all over the U.S. not just in California, New Mexico, Florida, Colorado, and Arizona, where there are also millions of legal, hardworking citizens of Hispanic ancestry. Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the U.S.! Puerto Ricans are all U.S. citizens from birth. Your attitudes are sickening, hatemongering, and unAmerican in every way! Get an education.

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TH Williams - Virginia Beach, VA - Karma: Neutral

The Real Concern - 2008-07-25 12:44:58

What? Unless I misconstrued, the message I get is that the problem is sharp knives in restarants. I can't wonder if the real concern is not Immigration Reforms. I wonder if an issue such as this would be nonexistent if the restaurant industry solely used child-proof safety scissors. No, I think not. For my own edification I would like the immigration status to be disclosed with regard to this incident. While I am pleased with the governments recent activity escalated in attempt to erradicate employment of illgal aliens, I hope that individual proprietors are also doing their part in this now tedious process. Otherwise, lets make sure we upgrade kitchen first aid kits.

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Suzanne Robinson - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

Immigration status? - 2008-07-25 09:40:22

Hopefully the police checked their immigration status. Seems more & more these days we read about assaults, batteries, and crimes being committed in Annapolis were there is a language barrier between the Spanish-English language. I think this incident warrants an immigration status check.

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Brian A. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral