Charges brought in Valentine weekend bar fight

Shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, Deputy Suave of the Eddy County Sheriff’s Department arrived at Hanson’s Bar in New Rockford to discover John Allmaras’ face covered in blood and with an apparent broken nose.

Documents filed with the Southeast District Court allege that Joseph Lawrence of New Rockford is the man responsible.

The documents further allege that Joseph Lawrence and Marnie Lawrence were drinking in the bar at approximately 11:30 p.m., on Feb. 12, at which point Marnie Lawrence made the comment that they should “get even” with Allmaras for an incident that occurred years prior.

Then, the two allegedly left the bar at approximately 1:20 a.m., only to return roughly 10 minutes later. Allegedly, Joseph Lawrence then pulled Allmaras off a stool by his clothing, and began repeatedly punching him. When Allmaras finally managed to get to his feet, Joseph Lawrence kicked Allmaras in the abdomen before leaving with Marnie Lawrence.

The documents further assert that Deputy Suave identified the defendant's vehicle shortly after arriving on scene, at which point he “pursued them in his patrol vehicle, conducting a traffic stop approximately a block away.”

At that time, the defendant was ordered to exit the vehicle; the Deputy noticed the defendant had blood on his right hand, consistent with him being the assailant in the bar attack.”

According to the documents, Allmaras later informed authorities that his nose had become so swollen that it was impossible to breathe out of, and that during the altercation, Joseph Lawrence had placed him temporarily in a headlock that made it hard to breathe.

For the alleged crimes, Joseph Lawrence was charged with aggravated assault, a Class C Felony. If found guilty, the defendant could face a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, a fine of $10,000, or both. He has not entered a plea as of press time.

Marnie Lawrence, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of “driving a motor vehicle while under the influence/refusal of chemical test,” a Class B Misdemeanor. Both are innocent until proven guilty, and are scheduled for preliminary hearings in the coming months.

The southeast judicial court also resolved the final charge and sentence stemming from last year’s Labor Day weekend bar fight at Buck-it’s Bar.

Brett Allmaras pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct, a Class B Misdemeanor, and on Jan. 13, Judge James D. Hovey sentenced him to nearly one year of unsupervised probation, and ordered him to pay $550 in fees and fines.

According to complaints filed in Eddy County District Court regarding the bar fight, an altercation with several individuals took place inside Buck-It’s bar shortly before 2 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2021. The altercation eventually moved outside, where Jordan Martin, who was charged with aggravated assault, struck a man hard enough to make him fall backwards and crack his head on the sidewalk.

According to the complaint filed against Brett Allmaras, “The defendant did, in reckless disregard of the fact that another person was harassed, annoyed, or alarmed by the defendant’s behavior, engage in fighting, violent, tumultuous, or threatening behavior and did engage in harassing conduct ...”

Also on Jan. 13, Judge Hovey amended the sentence of Cameron Hurst to include more than $145,000 in restitution that must be paid. Hurst had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and two counts of simple assault in September 2021, after assaulting three men at a party, which resulted in more than $200,000 in medical bills from the victims.

Meanwhile, Chad Ryberg of New Rockford and Larse Weylin Azure of Fort Totten were each charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. In Ryberg’s case, the degree was an infraction, and after pleading guilty he was assessed a $150 fine on Jan. 12.

Azure was charged with two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia (an Infraction as well as a Class A Misdemeanor), and on Jan. 19, was assessed $60 in fees after pleading guilty. Fines, an ID facility fee, and a criminal administrative fee were waived.