Alleged unwanted advances on the dance floor led to a brawl early Sunday morning at The Depot, according to reports from the Covington Police Department.
Officers were called to the popular bar on Emory Street around 1:24 a.m. When they arrived, officers reportedly found 37-year-old Wesley Gary Koontz walking away from the bar with no shirt on and blood on his face. Lisa Anne Bright, 33, was allegedly walking with him, and the duo stopped to speak with officers about the night’s events.
According to reports, Koontz told officers that he and Bright were dancing when an unknown male, later identified as 30-year-old Thomas Christopher Whalen, approached them and asked them if they wanted to buy some crack. Koontz alleged that when he told Whalen that he was "not in that stuff," Whalen began to fight with him.
Bright reportedly told officers that Whalen wanted to dance with her and when she refused, he hit her in the head, which caused Koontz to begin fighting with Whalen.
Officers next spoke with Whalen and noticed that he had small scratch on his forehead that was bleeding. When asked where he received the scratch, he allegedly told them he "had that scratch his whole life." When officers asked Whalen if he had been fighting with Koontz he allegedly told them he had not been fighting with anyone that evening.
According to a witness, Bright had been "grinding" and dancing with multiple men that evening, but when Whalen approached her to dance she refused. The witness reportedly told officers that when Whalen and Koontz began to fight, several other people inside the bar joined in.
Whalen, Koontz and Bright were all transported to the Newton County Detention Center where they were each charged with disorderly conduct.