By CHAD ABSHIRE

Staff Writer

WILLIAMSON - A massive bar fight erupted over the weekend, injuring two people.

Williamson Chief of Police C.D. Rockel told the Daily News that between approximately 50 to 60 people were openly brawling on the street outside and inside of Yesterday’s on Second Avenue in Williamson.

“It was like a riot,” Rockel said.

Two Williamson Police Department officers responded to the scene initially, Sgt. G.P. Dotson and Patrolman Jeff Taylor III.

“We got a call to respond to Yesterday’s for a stabbing,” Dotson told the Daily News.

Dotson said that when they arrived, they saw a large number of people fighting in the street. It was later determined that a number of those people fighting were on the University of Pikeville’s football team.

“We tried to get the crowd under control to find the stabbing victim,” Dotson said. “We used voice commands to disperse the crowd.”

He said that, while not all of the people were compliant, most of them were.

Despite that, in the midst of the brawl, Dotson said that he saw a man laying down in the pavement. He made it through the crowd to try to get him medical attention.

Demetri Travis, of Hazard, Ky., a sophomore defensive back for the UPike football team, was unconscious with what Dotson called “an abrasion to the back of his head.”

After EMT’s and police were able to treat him, the owner of the night club reportedly told police that there were still people fighting inside and that the stabbing victim was still within as well.

Branden Teasely, of Quartz Hill, Calif., was lying down in the stairwell with a stab wound running from the top of his spine down to his right oblique.

By then, more EMT’s and officers had arrived. Mingo County Sheriff’s Deputies Max Mounts and Michael Miller assisted the WPD in containing the crowd.

Teasley was transported to Williamson Memorial Hospital and Travis was transported to Appalachian Regional Hospital. Teasley was later flown out to St. Mary’s Hospital.

All the while, the police were still dealing with the crowd.

Dotson said that the two men were transported to separate hospitals intentionally, as he feared that the fight may follow to the hospital.

While there were no scuffles at the hospitals, a number of people from the brawl did go to each one. Dotson said he was able to conduct brief interviews with several individuals at each hospital’s waiting room.

Dotson said that he and Taylor went to WMH first to check on Teasley.

The sergeant said that it all apparently started after Teasely was dancing with a female inside the night club.

“After he got off the dance-floor, Teasley said he felt something sharp in his back,” Dotson said. “He said he turned around and saw somebody slip something into his pocket. After that, he fell to the floor.”

There is a suspect, but as now a name is not being released, pending formal charges. Dotson said that Teasley, who was released yesterday from St. Mary’s after staying in stable condition, is supposed to meet with him today to formally press charges.

The officers then went to ARH to check on Travis, who reportedly suffered a concussion.

“He was uncooperative,” Dotson said. “He did not want to press charges and wouldn’t give any information out.”

Despite that, there are still a number of people who may find themselves in trouble with the law.

“There will be pending charges on individuals who didn’t listen to our commands to disperse,” Dotson said. “Around 20 to 23 individuals will either be issued citations or given criminal warrants for obstruction or disorderly conduct.”

Dotson said that he contacted the Dean of UPike, but that his phone call was not returned. He said he also spoke with the campus’ chief of police and plans to speak with the school’s athletic director.

The case is still under investigation.