Fights End Calm Stretch At Waldorf Go-Go Club

Police arrested two men in connection with a fight at Thai Seafood & Grill in Waldorf early Sunday, ending what the restaurant's owner says was a break of more than three weeks in the violence that has plagued the popular eatery and go-go dance club.

Two off-duty Charles County sheriff's deputies reported a fight involving about 25 people in the Thai Seafood parking lot on Crain Highway, said Kristen Timko, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. A crowd of more than 50 had gathered in the lot, and deputies estimated that about half of them were being "sort of disorderly or unruly," she said, adding that only a few were actually fighting.

"There were only two arrests because [deputies] only witnessed the two fights," Timko said. "It was a very large crowd, so they just wanted to get it under control as quickly as possible."

After shooting pepper spray into a group of about four people who were fighting, sheriff's deputies arrested a 17-year-old male from the District, charging him with being disorderly and failing to obey a lawful order, Timko said. After the crowd began to disperse, she said, two other males started fighting.

One of them, Kevin Casey, 18, of the District, punched a deputy in the chest and tried to run, Timko said. Casey was shocked by a Taser stun gun and was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, she said.

The 17-year-old was released to his mother. Casey was taken to the Charles County Detention Center and later released on personal recognizance.

Thai Seafood doubles as a dance club on weekends after regular hours. Many of its patrons are in their teens and 20s. Since the fall, more than 50 people have been arrested outside the club, and police have used drug-sniffing dogs to search cars in the parking lot.

Sam Thana, the restaurant's owner, played down the fight, noting that it was the first such incident in three weeks and that it lasted only two to three minutes. He said he has hired four county sheriff's deputies to work off-duty in the parking lot Friday nights and three to work Saturday nights.

"You know how kids are. When you have a couple hundred of them, sometimes you're going to have a fight," Thana said. "Teenagers are always going to have tempers."