Drunken brawl in Harrison breaks post office window

A confrontation inside a Harrison, Idaho, bar Saturday night spilled into the street and ended with one man crashing through a post office window, slicing open his neck.

Charles N. Skinner, 31, of Spokane Valley, left a trail of blood down a sidewalk and into the street, where he collapsed. His wife, a nurse, gave him aid and requested a medical helicopter due to her husband’s extensive blood loss.

A rescue helicopter landed nearby and took Skinner to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where he was treated and since has been released.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office arrested Anthony Blake Stephenson, 38, of Post Falls, on suspicion of battery and obstruction.

The altercation began during an Oktoberfest celebration at One Shot Charlie’s, a Harrison tavern. Skinner’s wife told him a man had fondled her twice as she ordered a drink, according to statements to police. A verbal fight broke out between her party and the man, and the group was asked to leave the bar.

Outside, Skinner and Stephenson confronted three men, including the man who allegedly had fondled Skinner’s wife. Skinner, who witnesses said was intoxicated, rushed at the group and went headfirst through the front window of the post office, sustaining a deep cut in his neck.

Five sheriff’s deputies and a sergeant plus an Idaho State Police trooper responded to the scene, where they found a large crowd of drunken, uncooperative people, according to the sheriff’s report.

The man accused of fondling Skinner’s wife appeared intoxicated and disoriented, had a cut above his left eye and small cuts on his hands, and claimed he couldn’t recall the night’s event, according to the report.