Man Being Beaten Is Arrested, Charged With Knife Attack

Spokane police arrested a man they found being beaten by a group of men Saturday afternoon, charging him with cutting another man with a knife during a disagreement in a restaurant lounge.

Witnesses told police Eddie Shorty, 34, walked into the lounge at the Flame, 2401 E. Sprague, just before noon, gestured to the customers and threatened them with a knife.

Several of the customers wrestled the knife from Shorty and threw him out of the lounge, police said.

Shorty returned a few minutes later with a larger knife, again threatened several customers and cut one with the knife, police said.

The man was treated for a cut to his head by paramedics at the scene. He refused any further treatment.

Shorty was arrested for two counts of second-degree assault with a knife. He also was charged with lewd conduct, a misdemeanor.

The customers told police they chased Shorty out of the lounge and south on Altamont. When they caught him, they began beating him, police said.

Mistaking Shorty for the victim, a man driving by in a car stopped to help him. One of the men in the fight confronted the motorist, who then drove away, knocking down the man as he left.

Shorty, who gave his address as 2317 E. Pacific, suffered a bloody nose and was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released into police custody.

, DataTimes