Part II
Previously, “Singerman’s Side of the Story Starts to Emerge”
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Mr. Singerman
Ladies and gentlemen close to Robert Singerman, suspected of assaulting City Councilman Mehaul O’Leary, maintain that Mr. O’Leary has a longstanding drinking problem, compounded by a sizzling temper. The combination of longterm drinking and a short-fused temper, they charge, is what actually detonated last month’s bar-closing time fight.
Brawls are hardly news at Mr. O’Leary’s Irish pub, they say, and the owner is no stranger to mixing it up with customers.
A woman familiar with Mr. Singerman said the present incident involving Mr. O’Leary should set off alarms at City Hall. She said an authority figure such as City Manager Mark Scott should warn the Councilman to give up “or at least control” his drinking.
According to Mr. Singerman’s associates, and eyewitnesses, the pub owner and the entertainer’s agent have had a breezy, informal relationship for about two years that should have precluded nasty scenes such as occurred on Aug. 9.
Near closing time, Mr. Singerman playfully approached the pub owner/Councilman, lightly bumping his shoulder into Mr. O’Leary’s, it was asserted. “How about a nightcap?” he asked the boss.
Jekyll or Hyde?
These sources say the proprietor, who admittedly had been drinking, was instantly vexed by the shoulder contact. He whirled around bleary-eyed, they said. From drinking, he did not recognize Mr. Singerman, and expletives began flying like a covey of birds going south for the winter.
“Mehaul was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” exclaimed one witness. Gutter terminology quickly descended into ethnic slurs, he said. “Rob was taken aback. ‘Why are you talking to me that way?’”
Mr. Singerman’s ethnic roots are Italian, Jewish and Hispanic. Often he is taken to be purely Hispanic, and it was that section of his heritage that witnesses said Mr. O’Leary targeted.
“Rob could not believe Mehaul had turned on him,” said a friend.
As tempers rapidly were warming, Mehaul reportedly removed his eyeglasses and said, “Let’s go out back.”
Recurring Scenes
With their feelings revved to fever level, the mismatched twosome — burly Mr. Singerman, 6 foot and nearly 300 pounds, Mr. O’Leary, almost a generation older and 100 pounds lighter — began sparring verbally outdoors.
At a point, witnesses said, Mr. O’Leary threatened to shoot Mr. Singerman, who, upon hearing that, promptly socked the Councilman and fled, fearing the Councilman was packing a weapon.
Friends said he vanished into the night “because he was aware Mehaul had (allegedly) assaulted and battered other customers. He knew Mehaul was not afraid to use his fists or kick people. He (allegedly) assaulted at least one person who could not defend himself, a crippled man who was trying to stop another fight Mehaul had gotten into.”
“Rob also had heard Mehaul owned a gun.
“And so he struck first because, given the tenseness of the evening, he was in fear of what Mehaul might do.”
Another patron of the pub said that while the amateur warriors were out back, he heard Mr. O’Leary proclaim, “I own this city.” This launched a new wave of double-barreled, single-syllable expletives from both.
“Keep this in mind,” said a woman friend of Mr. Singerman’s. “O’Leary has a very nice reputation as a civic leader, but I don’t know if people would believe the way he conducts himself at his bar. Somebody ought to do something. I don’t know what.”
Under the weight of Mr. Singerman’s hefty punch, Mr. O’Leary instantly folded to the ground. So forceful was the blow that it snapped apart bones on the right side of his face and kept him in the hospital for a week.
Mr. Singerman turned himself into Culver City police several days later, and immediately posted the $60,000 bail, which brings the case up to date.
“Let me give you an idea of what amazing conditions were like that night,” said a friend of Mr. Singerman’s.
“Mehaul was under the influence. Something was wrong that evening. He did not even realize who Rob was until after the incident.
“Mind you, Rob has been going there for several years, not on a regular basis. But he liked being there because he would see a lot of his buddies from Culver High.
“One of the reasons what happened is so surprising is that Rob and Mehaul occasionally would have a drink at closing time. They would have a drink together. Mehaul even had given Rob his cellphone number. He said, ‘Give me a call if you ever need me.’
“They really had a very congenial relationship.”
What they had in common, apart from elbow-bending, is a little more elusive, although both men are pointedly outgoing and love sports.
“Rob has been a bouncer in the past,” said Mr. Singerman’s friend. “Being in show business, he is easy to talk to, so is Mehaul, and maybe that was their bonding point.”
(To be concluded)
