Patrons enjoying a quiet evening at Spruzzo Cafe were in for a shock when a violent brawl broke out last Thursday night near the restaurant located at 29575 Pacific Coast Highway.
“It didn’t happen in the restaurant,” said Spruzzo’s manager Lelia Eaton. “It was in the parking lot. The fighting started and then some of our customers asked me to call the police.”
The incident occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. after many of the businesses in the local strip mall had closed. The parking lot serves Spruzzo as well as a small market, a pet store, dry cleaner, Malibu Locations Etc. and Malibu Fitness.
According to published reports, an argument broke out between 31-year-old Refugio Escobar Jr. of Culver City, 35-year-old Higinio Avalos Larios of Malibu and 37-year-old Adrian Alcontara. One of the men allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed one of the victims in the forearm and another in the stomach.
Within minutes, emergency crews had all hands on deck. “There were four squad cars, three ambulances, one fire truck, a few paramedics, a life guard truck and a Fox News chopper,” the restaurant manager said. “A lot of people were stuck. They couldn’t get out of the parking lot because of all the emergency vehicles.”
The injured men were treated at Santa John’s Medical Center. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Web site, Escobar was booked at the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station later that evening and released on Tuesday. It was unclear what may have triggered the altercation.
Eaton said she is glad this appears to have been an isolated incident.
“It’s nothing you expect in Malibu,” she observed. “But it is something that happens once in a while.”