BEREA, Ohio -- Three Berea men, one 22 and two 19, along with two men from Parma and Medina, both 20, face trespassing and obstructing official business charges in connection with a fight club that organized a martial arts match May 26.
At about 11 p.m., police were called to a FirstEnergy right-of-way near the intersection of Race Street and Beeler Drive. The caller heard young people yelling and possibly fighting, and saw them climbing power-line towers in the right-of-way.
When police arrived, about 15 people ran southbound.
Police found a homemade fighting ring made of driveway markers, milk crates, plastic wrap, lamps and extension cords. Also on the scene were beer cans, fighting gloves, a wallet, a yoga mat, a pair of shoes, clothes, a blanket and a Styrofoam box filled with nachos.
One man, a 26-year-old Cleveland resident, stayed behind. He said he had been invited to the fight and had just arrived. He had been told to park his car in the lot of Heritage Congregational Church, 485 West St.
Police drove the Cleveland man back to his car outside the church, where they saw one of the 19-year-old Berea men who was later charged. That man initially denied attending the fight, then admitted that he was lying. Police later learned he was one of the fight’s organizers.
Four vehicles were parked at the far end of the church lot near the FirstEnergy right-of-way. In that area, police found the Parma man and his girlfriend, a 20-year-old Brook Park resident.
The Parma man said he was trying to help organize “Street Beefs,” a backyard mixed martial arts fight club. He said he and his girlfriend had rented an Olmsted Township house overnight so that they could attend the fight.
Police also caught a Columbia Station woman, 19, and a North Ridgeville girl, 17, running from the scene. The girl said she was the girlfriend of a third 19-year-old Berea man who had attended the fight but wasn’t charged.
Police took the girl to the Berea home of her boyfriend’s mother, who had no idea where her son was and had no knowledge of the fight.
Police then spotted the girl’s boyfriend, along with the Medina man, one of the 19-year-old Berea men who was charged and the 22-year-old Berea man walking back toward the fighting ring. They denied knowledge of the fight.
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