Berwyn bar, patrons face suit over fight that apparently involved attack with pool, mop sticks

A fight between patrons of a Berwyn bar that allegedly left one man with a severed artery has resulted in a lawsuit.

Edward McConville and Carolyn Mata filed suit Dec. 11 in Cook County Circuit Court against Wagner’s Lounge Inc., Nicole Atlas, Bill Ruiz and Dan McGrath. McConville is a DuPage County resident and the other parties are from Cook County.

According to the complaint,  the plaintiffs were patrons at Wagner’s Lounge on West Cermak Road on Aug. 3, 2013, when Atlas allegedly attacked Mata with a pool stick, mop stick and threw a bottle that struck Mata in the forehead.

McConville claims when he tried to stop the fight, he was attacked by the defendants and Ruiz pushed him face first into a door, causing his arm to go through the glass and him to bleed profusely.

Mata, the suit states, took McConville to the hospital, where he received six stitches to his head and 150 staples to close his arm laceration. Mata claims she sustained a contusion to her head and a pinched nerve as a result of the alleged attack at the bar.

The plaintiffs' complaint includes dram shop and premises liability counts against Wagner's Lounge, as well as battery and assault counts against Atlas, Ruiz and McGrath.

Each of the 17 counts lodged in the plaintiffs' suit seeks more than $50,000 in damages. McConville and Mata are represented by Chicago attorney Anthony J. Peraica.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L012863.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and represents only one side of the story.