Guilty Plea in Spearmint Rhino Assault

A man has pleaded guilty to an assault which occurred in October 2007 outside the Spearmint Rhino, and is now facing a five year prison sentence.

According to prosecutor Hans Almgren, Martin Mendez, who was 23 at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty to assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, and to being an active participant in a criminal street gang.

Mendez was one of several men were waiting outside the strip club for a man with whom they had a pre-existing feud, according to police at the time. When the target emerged, he spotted the group of men and ran back inside for safety. They, according to authorities, initiated a separate confrontation with another man, punching and beating him. One suspect, armed with a knife, stabbed the man three times. The group fled in two vehicles and arrests weren’t made for nearly a month.

Another defendant in the case is still awaiting sentencing. Mendez was originally a part of a federal indictment as part of Operation Gator Roll.