Raleigh Police Seek Tips in Attack at Jackpot
The Jackpot closed its doors this past week on a very sour note – the brutal beating of 23-year old Evan Lawrence. The incident occurred in the early morning hours of this past Thursday, September 30th, which was the last day the bar was open to the public.
According to friends he was with that evening, he went outside to smoke, and accidentally hit someone with a cigarette as he flicked it, which provoked an unknown individual who proceeded to attack him. While Lawrence was able to walk home after the altercation, friends noticed his speech was slurred the following day, and they and Lawrence’s father encouraged him to go to the hospital to get checked out. Upon evaluation, doctors discovered a blood clot in his brain as a result of the assault.
According to a recent article in the News and Observer, Lawrence was initially admitted at Rex Hospital in critical condition, and underwent surgery to remove the blood clot Saturday, after which time he was upgraded to serious. However, his condition worsened again yesterday, from serious back to critical.
NC State’s Technician reported that the Thursday morning fight left windows smashed.
Residents living near the bar said almost 50 pounds of glass-from bottles, glasses and windows were smashed during the fight, and are still lying across the road from the bar.
The bar’s window now has a gaping slit, wide enough for a thin person to enter.
Local officials are asking for any help identifying the assailant in this incident, who remains unknown. They have also been searching for two women and a man who appeared to be assisting Lawrence after the incident and may have witnessed something. Anyone with information that may be helpful to the case are asked to call Raleigh Crime Stoppers at 919-834-HELP or the Raleigh Police Department at 919-996-3555.
UPDATE: Local news is reporting that a suspect has been apprehended in this case. Charles Zachary Poll, 25, of Raleigh, was arrested today (Monday) following tips the police received following the weekend’s media exposure.
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Adam
10/04 07:19 PM
This is incredibly sad and I wish the best for the man and his family. I hope someone can come forward with more information.
Does anyone know how big the crowd was that evening?
(Just an FYI, the bar closed officially Friday morning, the first of October. Thursday night/Friday morning was the last night it was open and there were hundreds of people there).
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mattycakes
10/04 07:20 PM
this, needless to say, fucking sucks. hopefully more concrete evidence surfaces ASAP.
related (but obviously not even a fraction as important):
the technician makes it seem like the hole in the window is related to the fight, which isn’t the case. it sounds like it was some sort of big bar brawl, which is also not the case. i overheard someone say “there were all those people there and no one saw anything?!” but there weren’t actually that many people there wednesday night. -
mattycakes
10/04 07:21 PM
thanks Adam, that seems to be what a lot of people are mistakenly thinking, that it happened on the “final night.”
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stacey
10/04 07:35 PM
Correct - this occurred in the early morning hours of Thursday (ie: late night Wednesday night). The last night Jackpot was open was Thursday night, so the incident occurred the previous night. I, too, was at the Jackpot on the last night it was open and have to say I didn’t even notice any glass, nor did anyone mention the fight, though I believe at that point it wasn’t widely known how serious the condition of the victim was.
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Micah
10/04 07:45 PM
Yeah, that Technician article is pretty bad. There was no broken window, or other broken bottles outside Jackpot on Thursday morning. BTW, rumor mill has it that an arrest was made this afternoon in this case. That is all I know.
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Kat
10/04 10:52 PM
Jackpot had a broken window Saturday window…i assumed it happened Friday night sine it was wide open…
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abcnews
10/05 03:40 PM
“Charles Poll, 25, of Raleigh is charged with beating 23-year-old Evan Lawrence outside the Jackpot bar on September 30. Lawrence remains in critical condition.”
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Rob
10/11 12:43 PM
I might be tempted to beat some indigent hipster that burnt me with a cigarette butt too.
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jer
10/12 02:37 PM
any recent news on this one??
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Fuck Rob
10/13 05:24 PM
Fuck you Rob
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Merboy
10/24 12:20 PM
go fuck yourself, Rob
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