Annapolis man chokes patron and attacks police in downtown pub

An Annapolis man was arrested at a downtown pub Sunday night after choking another patron, assaulting an employee and attempting to disarm a police officer during a scuffle, according to Annapolis police.

Edward William O’Brien, 56, was charged with two counts of first- and second-degree assault after his arrest at the Castlebay Irish Pub on Main Street. He is being held without bail at the Jennifer Road Detention Center, according to the Anne Arundel County District Office. No defense attorney had been assigned to the case as of Wednesday.

According to charging documents, after an argument with another customer, O’Brien injured an employee (likely a broken rib) and choked and punched a woman in the face before police arrived.

O’Brien was also charged with reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and disarming a police officer, the latter charge being a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison or a $10,000 fine.

In the indictment, police wrote that O’Brien and a customer seated at the bar “got into a verbal altercation” before O’Brien tried to hit her. An employee came from behind the bar to restrain O’Brien, but was pushed into a wooden post and then to the ground. O’Brien lunged at the 40-year-old employee and began punching him in the face, police said.

City fire department paramedics took the employee to Anne Arundel Medical Center with rib injuries.

The police did not state in the indictment what triggered the original argument in the bar.

The woman told officers O’Brien cursed at her before walking from his chair toward her. When he got to her, he put his hand around her throat and began choking her, police said. The woman said she did not know how long this lasted, but she was having trouble breathing at the time and was “fearing for her life,” charging documents say.

O’Brien punched the woman in the face before customers pulled him away from her, police said.

According to charging documents, officers arrived at the Castlebay Pub just before 11 p.m. When they arrived, they found O’Brien lying on the floor. He was breathing as officers tried to get him to respond, but his eyes were closed, police said.

The woman O’Brien was with attempted to record the conversation, police said, ignoring orders to keep her distance. The woman soon tripped over her feet and fell against the bar stools, police said. When an officer went to tend to her, O’Brien lunged at her and tried to grab the officer’s gun, police said.

The other officers managed to get O’Brien to the ground, put him on his stomach and handcuff him. O’Brien continued to resist arrest as he was outside the restaurant and was taken to a patrol vehicle, police said.

O’Brien’s middle finger was cut, but police do not know when this happened. Although he initially resisted treatment, O’Brien’s wounds were eventually repaired with four stitches at Anne Arundel Medical Center before he was taken to jail.