Crowd Outside of Norristown Restaurant and Bar Yields Five Arrests, Say Police

A crowd outside of a Norristown restaurant and bar on the 300 block of Lafayette Street yielded five arrests and a bag of cocaine around 2 a.m. on Sept. 14, most of which was set off by intoxicated men fighting, according to police.

Norristown police were positioned near the establishment where a sizeable crowd was exiting, according to a police report. Two men who police say were very intoxicated and smelled of alcohol, identified as Pedro Luina-Ortiz and Ivan Vasquez-Delorenzo, began a physical fight and police subsequently arrested them, say police.

A man named Octavio Vasquez began to pull Ivan Vasquez away from police, and shouted at police, according to the report. Police told Octavio Vasquez to stop disrupting, and when he continued, police arrested him for alleged disorderly conduct, say police.

As police arrested Octavio Vasquez, after he had tried to pull Ivan Vasquez away from police, Diego Lazara, who appeared to be intoxicated and smelled of alcohol, tried to pull Octavio Vasquez away from police, according to the report.

Police told Lazara several times to step back. Lazara was taken into custody and transported to the police station, say police. 

While police were readying themselves to leave the area with the prisoners, another man, Anastacio Hernandez-Gonzales, began to shove one of the security guards present and yelled at him despite instructions to stop, say police. Hernandez-Gonzales was taken into custody after he tried again to go towards the security guard. Hernandez-Gonzales was very intoxicated and smelled of alcohol, according to the report. 

At the police station, police searched Lazara, which produced a small bag with a white, powdery substance, say police. The substance was tested with a cocaine swab test kit and found to be cocaine, according to police.