ABC7 I-Team Report: El Paso Nightclub And Bar Areas With High Number Of Assault Reports

Two weeks after a young man was brutally beaten outside a popular nightclub downtown, some El Pasoans are calling for more security and enforcement in certain entertainment areas around town.

22-year-old Lionel Martinez is still in the hospital after he was beaten near the Old Plantation nightclub. Relatives say he is in critical condition. Witnesses told ABC-7 Martinez’s attackers had been shouting gay slurs as they beat him across the head with a bat.

Willie Cochran said he’s seen that type of violence before. In fact, Cochran said he was once victimized for being gay. “Like 8 or 9 people beat me up. They scarred my chest,” he said.

Isaac Romero also said violent incidents against the LGBT community happen on a regular basis. “It’s not right,” he said.

ABC-7 wanted to get a sense of how many assaults happen near the OP as opposed to other nightclubs in El Paso so we pored over police records detailing every assault within a two block radius of some of the city’s most popular bars and clubs to date. Some of the assault incidents are alleged to have happened during the day, others at night.

We focused our unofficial study on three areas and got the following results: – 139 assault reports in the area near Club 101 and Teddy’s in east El Paso – 161 assault reports in the area near the Old Plantation and The Tap in downtown El Paso – 231 assault reports in the area near the Three Legged Monkey in east El Paso

The El Paso Police Department said the numbers show no particular place is immune to violent outbursts. “We do get numerous calls to places considred entertainment areas, not just the three that you mentioned, but in every single area,” said spokesman Darrel Petry.