Authorities describe Elbow Room parking lot brawl

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Officers and investigators told the court what happened during an Elbow Room parking lot brawl that left a young man lying in the parking lot lifeless.

Agaron Davoyan is charged with battery causing great bodily injury and assault in a crime that, according to testimony on Thursday, left the victim clinically dead.

Fresno police say Davoyan was heated the night he saw Nick Burriel at the Elbow Room last November. Even before any punches were thrown, a security guard told investigators he was angry.

"In regards to Mr. Burriel, he called him a [expletive], and the next time he saw him that he would kill him," said Fresno Police Det. Antonio Rivera.

For the first time, police revealed what bar patrons told them about the initial fight that began inside the restaurant. Three witnesses said Davoyan walked past them, stepping on a woman's foot before reaching Burriel.

"This male then went up to the male that was there at the bar and had grabbed him and then started assaulting him, punching him," said Rivera.

After the scuffle that was broken up by security, testimony revealed Davoyan was taken out to leave through the patio.

Burriel spent about 10 minutes inside paying his bar tab. Police say when he left, a second fight began outside. When it ended, investigators said no one gave CPR or medical aid to Burriel. The first ambulance who pulled up noted the victim was not breathing and did not have a pulse.

"He said the patient was dead upon his evaluation," said Amarjeet Gill, a district attorney investigator.

According to testimony, Davoyan and Burriel had some prior problems years before this confrontation. One witness told investigators before the fight outside, Burriel was antagonizing Davoyan.

The injuries left Burriel in a coma for months. Eight months later when he was able to talk, he was interviewed by investigators.

"His first statement to me was that he did not recall there being any problems that had occurred at the Elbow Room. That was his recollection," said Kevin Wiens, a district attorney investigator.

Prosecutor Richard Burchett asked investigators where Davoyan went after he left the fight. They told him he went to Wassabi and then the Standard.

Late Thursday, the judge decided there is enough evidence to hold Davoyan to answer. If convicted, he could face seven years in prison.