February 8, 2010 – A long line for the women’s restroom may have sparked one of several brawls early Saturday at a San Marcos nightclub, where three people were stabbed, one person was beaten, a security guard was hit in the face with a bottle, and two women were arrested.
About 1 a.m. a force of 15 deputies and supervisors raced to reports of a fight involving at least 20 people at the Jumping Turtle nightclub and restaurant at 1660 Capalina Rd., said San Diego Sheriff’s Capt. Don Crist of the San Marcos station.
Deputies found a large number of people in the parking lot and were told at least five fights had broken out inside and outside the nightclub. It took them a while to restore order so paramedics could enter safely, Crist said.
”Several people were trying to get into the restroom and were angry that they could not get into the restroom,” Crist said.
A female security guard was taken to the hospital with injuries from being hit in the face with a bottle, Crist said. He said the guard was hired to protect a rap singer performing at the nightclub.
The guard identified two women as her two attackers. Irene Cardenas, 32, of Escondido, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, the bottle, and another Escondido woman, age 32, was cited on suspicion of battery and released, Crist said.
Two victims turned up at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido later in the morning, Crist said. A female victim told deputies she and the security guard had been dragged out of the women’s room and attacked.
She reportedly said she was hit and kicked in the hallway, then pushed into the parking lot and beaten by several males and females.
The other victim told deputies he tried to break up a fight in the restroom hallway and realized after being pushed into the parking lot that he had been stabbed in the abdomen and both arms.
A fourth victim, found lying on the front nightclub steps when deputies first arrived, was taken to a hospital with stab wounds to one leg. He told deputies he was attacked after he walked out of the men’s room and into a fight already in progress, Crist said.
Crist said one person who called the Sheriff’s Department to report the melee told them to send “as many cops as possible.”
Every deputy in San Marcos, and some from surrounding unincorporated areas, were dispatched: 10 deputies, two detectives, two sergeants and a lieutenant.
The restaurant and bar has been a frequent target of San Marcos city complaints. The owner is appealing a decision by the city to revoke the club’s entertainment permit over code violations.
