Police issue warrants in stabbing

Bad blood between two groups at a night club last week ended with blood being spilled in an apparent knife attack.

The incident happened at about 2:30 a.m. Friday in the parking lot of the Rumba Nite Club on Fontana Boulevard, according to Havelock Police Chief G. Wayne Cyrus.

Cyrus said warrants have been issued for Sean Wayne Theodis, 24, of Cherry Point, for three charges, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, affray and resisting, obstructing and delaying an officer.

Cyrus said his department is working with the military to bring Theodis into custody.

Cyrus said police were called and had to disburse a large crowd gathered outside the club He said police later received a 911 call requesting an ambulance be sent to a home on Little John Lane.

He said a person with cuts possibly from a knife was transported to CarolinaEast Medical Center in New Bern.

With police at the hospital, Theodis, suffering from face and head injuries, was brought to the hospital, Cyrus said.

"At this point we’re still investigating, but it is likely that the stabbing victim and the Marine from Cherry Point were the ones engaged in the altercation," Cyrus said.

According to Ruben Ruiz, manager at the Rumba Nite Club, the altercation is the largest since the business opened in May.

He said the incident may have stemmed from an altercation between two groups the previous week in which he banned one group of four or five people from coming into the club.

He said the group came back early Friday morning and were again told they weren’t allowed to come into the club. However, he said the group inside the club from the altercation the previous week noticed the other group and words were exchanged.

Ruiz said security followed the club’s procedure of escorting one group to their cars and then escorting the second group. However, he said he believes some phone calls were made that led others to start arriving in the parking lot.

"At that point, I can’t say that I saw everything," Ruiz said. "The cops had already been called. Everybody was in the parking lot yelling at each other. I had already sent security out there. Cops sprayed mace into the air, and that’s pretty much when all hell broke loose. I heard that somebody got cut."

Ruiz called the business a Latin club, but it holds hip-hop nights on Thursdays. He said he would strictly enforce a new dress code, and if it continues to be a problem, he would cancel the hip-hop night.

"My concern is I don’t want to hurt anybody else’s business," he said. "I want them to know that we’re taking steps. We’re taking all the proper steps to make it as safe as possible.

"It’s usually a very relaxed atmosphere."