Was a firearm involved in the bar room dustup 11 days ago between City Councilman Mehaul O’Leary and an occasional patron of Mr. O’Leary’s pub?
In a scenario that is sounding increasingly hostile and producing previously undisclosed moving parts, sources told the newspaper that after the two combatants traded hot words near closing time, “the owner threatened to shoot” his alleged assailant, Robert Anthony Singerman.
After Mr. Singerman, much larger and much younger, decked Mr. O’Leary in one punch, sending him to the hospital for almost a week, the customer swiftly departed the property of Joxer Daly’s Irish pub.
“He left the scene,” according to the sources, “because he felt the owner may have been telling the truth. (Mr. O’Leary) actually may have had a weapon.”
Mr. O’Leary, recovering at home from surgery for broken bones around one eye, strenuously denied the accusation.
“Absolute rubbish,” he told the newspaper.
He paused before adding, “I am very surprised by the direction this is taking.
“But I guess (Mr. Singerman) has to protect himself. I am ready for anything.”
Sorting Out
What is known about that late evening/early morning is that both men had been admittedly drinking, and there was bad blood between two very vigorous personalities, possibly stemming from another case of fisticuffs reportedly involving Mr. Singerman, on St. Patrick’s Day 2 1/2 years ago.
How much each had been drinking, and what role alcohol may have played in leading to the climactic blow remain matters for speculation.
Fiction and an indeterminate amount of fact seem to be stirring retellings of what happened between Mr. Singerman and the first-term Councilman.
Sources familiar with both sides say that each man was steaming with braggadocio, and that a running battle of blazing words between two people who did not like each other at the start, sparked the one-way fight.
Joxer Daly bartenders say that Mr. Singerman came in at 11 o’clock. Mr. O’Leary, who acknowledged he was drinking earlier in the day to celebrate the arrival of a pal from his native Ireland, said he walked into his pub at 1 a.m.
Minutes earlier, though, sources said, he had been at another bar that is walking distance from his Washington Boulevard pub.
Not the Way It Happened
Although it initially seemed to be the understanding of investigating cops that Mr. Singerman struck his single telling blow as Mr. O’Leary was escorting him — against his will — from the premises after last call — the Councilman told the newspaper that is not the way it occurred.
Badly rattled, physically, by the punch that quickly dropped him to the concrete pavement, Mr. O’Leary said he was standing at the end of the bar surrounded by a group of people both knew when the defendant approached.
“This guy always wants something,” the Councilman said, “always wants more and more. He wanted me to buy him a drink. I told him no. After last call, he wanted one shot. I told him no.”
The two exchanged bitter words again, and the Councilman said Mr. Singerman — 16 years younger and a hundred pounds heavier — challenged him to a fight out back.
Here a source intervened to claim that “Singerman was already being escorted outside by a security guard, but O’Leary was spoiling to fight him. Else why would he have come out from his safety zone behind the bar if he didn’t want to fight?”
Mr. O’Leary admitted that he walked out first, prepared for fisticuffs with his customer.
“I don’t know how far he was behind me,” said the Councilman, “but the next thing I remember was being in the hospital.”
Although Culver City police said last week that 28-year-old Mr. Singerman will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon — fists could qualify, and there is no implication of a firearm indicated — the District Attorney’s office had not filed as of late this afternoon.
Mr. Singerman turned himself in to Culver City police three days after the fight that occurred just before 2 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. He immediately posted the $60,000 bon. He is free until his indicated arraignment date in October.
