AUBURN (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- A security guard is recovering from his injuries after being beaten by about ten teenagers outside a nightclub in Auburn.
The guard was trying to break up a fight between a teenage girl and Amanda Fitts, who owns the Sapphire Nightclub with her husband.
It happened Tuesday night at the end of a special “chem-free” teen night. Owner Jeremy Fitts says they have had several of those teen party nights at the club before with no problems. But this time, he said, the night took a bad turn.
“They all jumped in and one thing led to another and it became a brawl.” Said Fitts.
He said they were closing the club and most of the teens were outside in the parking lot. Fitts told NEWS CENTER Maine a gang of ten to 15 teens chased one other teenager boy, who ran up and asked to be let inside the building for protection.
He said the large group wanted to go inside after the boy but Fitts wouldn’t allow it. Then that group ran toward a struggle between Amanda Fitts and a girl who wanted a knife that had been confiscated to be returned. Fitts said the girl bit his wife on the arm, and that’s when security guards stepped in.
“I pushed her away and it escalated from there.” said guard Zach Storkson. “
He and Fitts said about ten teens attacked Storkson, knocking him to the ground and kicking and punching him. Another guard intervened and helped Storkson get to safety, but the damage had already been done. Storkson said he has a concussion, broken nose, injured knees and a fractured elbow. He said another guard was also punched in the face. Fitts said he, too, was punched several times in the face, and that his wife suffered a black eye and bite marks on her arm.
The teens had apparently started to run away by the time police arrived, but three of the teens were charged with disorderly conduct.
Fitts and Storkson both said they want tougher charges. Storkson said he had filed a formal complaint with police.
“I just gave a statement (to police) today,” he said. “I didn’t want to hurt a kid but they need to learn a lesson. It's not OK to act like that.”
Fitts said some parents had contacted them to apologize for their children’s behavior, and that some other teens had reached out as well.
“A lot of the kids messaged us afterward and said hey, we really want to continue doing these, can you please not let a few kids ruin it for everyone?"
But the damage has apparently been done. He said the chem-free nights for teens are all done.
“We told them at this point we would have to hire a police officer to stand at the door, and to us, it doesn’t equate to hire a police officer to have a fun night.”
Auburn Police would not provide any additional information on the case Friday but said they plan to meet with Jeremy and Amanda Fitts next week.