SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - An attack during a party with a mace -- a weapon used in medieval times to bludgeon opponents -- resulted in the arrest of one man and the hospitalization of another for treatment of head injuries, police said.
South Lake Tahoe resident James Burnitzki, 19, was arrested Thursday morning in connection with the incident at about 3 a.m. Sunday at a home on Lost Sheep Lane, according to South Lake Tahoe Police Sgt. Jeff Reagan.
A fight broke out among 40-50 people at the party, at which point the 23-year-old victim was struck, Reagan said.
Police described the object as a combination of a handle and a chain topped with an oval-shaped object with spikes. The weapon came from a residence in South Lake Tahoe, according to Reagan.
The victim, a Brazilian national who was working in the United States, was driven to Barton Memorial Hospital by friends and then taken by Care Flight helicopter to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno with a head injury, Reagan said.
He was released from the hospital Tuesday.
Burnitzki was booked into El Dorado County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a deadly weapon.
Officers located the suspect through witnesses, which took several days.
