Barroom Brawl Brings Citation

An afternoon barroom brawl, which apparently began when a customer poured ice cream on the manager, ended when the man was apprehended by witnesses Friday.

Benjamin Greg Westbrook, 32, was outside Mazzotti’s Italian Food, a bar and restaurant on Walnut Avenue, and cited on suspicion of malicious mischief, said Huntington Beach Police Lt. Jeff Cope. He was treated at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach for bruises around his eye.

Cope said that Westbrook was apparently drunk when he entered the restaurant and dumped ice cream on the manager, Andrew Robert Mirzaoff. The manager punched Westbrook and knocked him to the ground, Cope said.

When police arrived, two people had apprehended Westbrook, who was lying on the ground in front of the restaurant. One officer brandished his baton and restrained him until police could determine what happened, Cope said.

“(The officer) got out with baton in hand until he could decide who was the good guy and the bad guy,” Cope said.