Baseball Tavern facing citations for assault that left man in a coma

BOSTON — A Fenway bar where a 27-year-old was assaulted and left in a coma faced a court hearing Tuesday regarding the incident.

The City of Boston Licensing Board has cited Baseball Tavern for the incident that left Robert McLaughlin in a coma.

According to a list of citations this month, the bar was cited for the assault along with a patron being "overserved" on the same night.

On Saturday, April 30, McLaughlin was with his friends and younger brother at Baseball Tavern after a Red Sox vs Yankees game. At some point, McLaughlin was assaulted and hit his head.

"[It was] Best described to me as a catastrophic, traumatic brain injury," Robert's father Jay McLaughlin told FOX25 earlier this month. "It's a nightmare that you wake up and relive until we hope the best outcome for him is ahead of us."

Boston police told the licensing board what they saw when they arrived on scene at baseball tavern just after one in the morning on May 1. Police said McLaughlin was covered in blood just outside the front door of the bar.

At the licensing board hearing, managers from the bar spoke to FOX25's Robert Goulston.

One manager said a doorman physically grabbed and escorted McLaughlin to the door. While doing so, the manager says other customers were throwing punches.

The manager said he tried to calm people down and when he turned back around, he saw McLaughlin outside on the ground.

McLaughlin's family is concerned it was one of the bar's employee's caused the injuries, but the head manager told the licensing board his doorman did everything he was supposed to.

"Understanding after hearing from my doorman that was responsible for escorting the victim outside, it sounds to me he did everything possible to help this person and to also diffuse the situation," manager Adam Hawke said.

Cox Media Group