Pair indicted for Boar’s Head Lounge beating

By Joe Johnson

A Clarke County grand jury has indicted two people in connection with the beating of a man outside of a bar in downtown Athens three months ago,

The incident happened early in the morning of May 11th outside of Boar’s Head Lounge on East Washington Street where a 22-year-old Watkinsville resident suffered severe facial injuries from the beating.

Ryan Wayne Harris and Mateus Brandon McDowell were each charged with aggravated battery because they “did maliciously cause bodily harm to Harrison Padgett by seriously disfiguring his face,” according to the indictment filed on August 12th in Superior Court.

McDowell and Harris had yet to be identified as suspects when a police report of the incident was made.

According to the report, Padgett was arguing with a bouncer at the entrance of the bar when two other employees “ran outside to assist the bouncer in beating him.

“One person held his arms down and had him by the throat,” the report continued. “The bouncer and another individual in a red hoodie (possible alias Flash) punched him in the face.”

Following the incident, Padgett went to the hospital and he provided police with a video clip of what happened.

Police also examined footage of the incident recorded by the downtown video surveillance system as part of their investigation which resulted in the issuance of warrants for the arrests of McDowell and Harris.

McDowell, a 34-year-old resident of Monroe, has been incarcerated at the county jail since his arrest on July 2nd. He was denied bail by a Magistrate Court judge on July 16th and is scheduled to be arraigned on September 23rd.

As of today there is no record of Harris having been arrested.

Mateus Brandon McDowell