Police searching for suspect who escalated Fox Lake tavern brawl
Police are looking for a man who they say escalated a weekend brawl at a Fox Lake tavern that resulted in a 27-year-old bouncer being shot in the shoulder.
Fox Lake Police Lt. Mark Schindler said officers are reviewing surveillance video and trying to identify the person who shoved another man down a flight of stairs off a back deck just before the shooting at Pug Mahones Irish Pub & Grill at 2:45 a.m. Saturday.
That touched off a chain of events that resulted in gunfire erupting outside the bar, Schindler said. It also led to the arrest of Keith Lee Jr., 21, of Waukegan, on felony charges of aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm.
“Whoever that person is caused the problem to escalate,” Schindler said. “So, we are working to try and identify him.”
Schindler said Lee was with a group of friends when a brawl started inside the bar in the 200 block of E. Grand Avenue, causing bouncer Tim Reid and others to get involved.
Reid and other bouncers escorted Lee and his friends outside, Schindler said, when the unknown person shoved one of Lee's friends from behind down a flight of stairs leading to the bar's parking lot.
The victim's face hit a vehicle bumper, Schindler said. At the bottom of the stairs, the friend yelled out he was hit over the head by a bottle.
Lee pulled out a handgun and fired two rounds at the bouncers at the top of the stairs, Schindler said. One bullet hit Reid in the right shoulder and the second went through a wall into the tavern's kitchen area, Schindler said.
Lee jumped into the passenger side of a vehicle, then fired two more shots through an open window at the bar as the car drove away, Schindler said. No one was hurt in the second salvo of gunfire, he said,
Reid was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville and treated for a wound police described as not life threatening. He has been released from the hospital, Schindler said.
The man shoved down the stairs suffered head injuries in the fall, Schindler said. He was treated at Centegra Hospital in McHenry.
Schindler said the vehicle carrying Lee was followed by another bar patron, who called police and informed them about Lee's direction of travel. Police caught up to the vehicle and took three occupants into custody, including Lee. Lee was the only one who was charged, court records show.
Lee has also been charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm, possession of a defaced firearm, and possession of a firearm with no FOID card.
He remains held in Lake County jail on $750,000 bail, and due back in court March 26.