Man Beaten in Downtown Shakopee Fight Has Permanent Eye Damage

A 27-year-old Shakopee man who was assaulted while trying to break up a fight outside Arne's Bar on April 22 still cannot see out of his injured left eye.

The victim's mother, who agreed to speak to Patch if her name wasn't used, said doctors at Hennepin County Medical Center told her it's the worst eye damage they've ever seen.

"He has not yet seen light out of that eye," she said. "There's a less than 1 percent chance of him getting that sight back. It's devastating."

Shakopee police are still seeking the public’s help to find those who were involved the downtown brawl.

"If someone has information, we'll take it," Shakopee Police Capt. Chris Dellwo said this week.

The victim's mother said she was out with her son that night at the and they were waiting outside for a taxi when they heard yelling from down the street.

"My son is 6 foot 4 inches and 300 pounds and used to be a bouncer," she said. "He went to help after he heard a woman scream like she was getting hurt."

She said she followed her son and described the scene as "chaos." Even though her son never lifted a hand, she said several guys ganged up on him and eventually got him on the ground. That's when she said she saw a guy punching her son repeatedly in the face."

"It's a nightmare I will relive and relive and relive," she said.

outside  and Arne’s Bar, according to Dellwo.

“I think he was trying to prevent the fight,” Dellwo said last week. 

The man was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center where he had surgery on the eye and more than 20 stitches. He's home now but has made several trips back to the hospital for treatment, his mother said. He's also lost his job as a taxi driver and she said he'll never drive commercially again.

Although skirmishes happen in that area once every couple weeks, Dellwo said normally no one is hurt very badly.

Dellwo said the suspects reportedly left the scene in a taxi and that as of this week, they are still working the case and looking for more information. Anyone with information is asked to call  at (952) 233-9400 and ask for investigations.

You can also give a tip anonymously, by calling the Shakopee Police Tip Line at (952) 233-9499. Report a crime tip online at http://tiny.cc/SPD_TIP411 or text the word "spdtips" and the tip information to 847411.

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