Wrestling competition sparks complaints, fight leaves one unconcious
Hill bar The Pit has seen a troubled start to the semester, after incidents involving the bar and its patrons prompted two separate calls to police.
The Pit held an astro-lube wrestling competition Aug. 31, causing a safety violation to which Boulder Police responded.
“Twenty to twenty-five people were up on the fence (that surrounds the bar), rocking it back and forth,” said Boulder Police Department spokeswoman Julie Brooks.
When Boulder police bicycle officers told the bouncers to get the patrons off the fence, a 20-year-old unidentified woman, who was in the competition, approached them and alleged that she had been coerced into participating.
On Sept. 29, Elliot Linz, passed The Pit with several friends. One of them bumped into a man outside the bar, and there was an exchange of words — including possible use of racial slurs by the man against Linz, who is black.
When Linz tried to intervene, he was pushed backward and hit his head, losing consciousness. He woke up in Boulder Community Hospital with injuries to his face.
Brooks said Boulder police are looking into the possibility that there may have been a bias-motivated incident.
According to CUPD policy, all bias-motivated incidents are investigated and treated seriously.
The victims could not be reached for comment, but Jonathan Broadhurst, a spokesman for The Pit, said the wrestling competition was voluntary.
“All participants volunteered and participated by their own choice,” said Broadhurst.
He added that the woman in question presented an I.D. to get in and said that she was 21.
As for the fight, Broadhurst said that it happened very quickly and that it didn’t involve The Pit.
According to Boulder Police records, there have been several other incidents associated with the address, but none of them appear to be the fault of the bar itself.
“A lot of bars go through different problem times according to the management, the owners, the type of crowd they cater to,” Mel Rhamey, a crime analyst with Boulder police said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Sam Dieter at sam.dieter@thecampuspress.com
