A Pennsylvania man was granted probation before judgment and released from jail after a pub brawl in downtown Annapolis led to a guilty plea, according to court records.

On June 9, city police officers went to Main Street and found Edward William O’Brien III on the floor of the Castlebay Irish Pub, eyes closed but still breathing.

According to charging documents, the King of Prussia resident was part of a sprawling fight, which started during a confrontation with another patron, a woman he was accused of choking and punching in the face, and ending with a bloodied bartender and an attempt to grab a police officer’s firearm.

Though shooting deaths this year have showed a significant decline compared to 2023, the Castlebay brawl led the Annapolis Police Department to focus its summer crime response on the downtown area, planting additional officers near popular bars through the end of August.

O’Brien, 56, was initially charged with two counts each of first- and second-degree assault, as well as reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and disarming an officer. The first-degree assault and disarming charges are felonies.

After spending almost 80 days in the Jennifer Road Detention Center, O’Brien pleaded guilty Sept. 26 to second-degree assault, a misdemeanor in Maryland encompassing most kinds of unwanted and harmful contact.

That same afternoon, Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Robert Thompson granted O’Brien probation before judgment, revoking the conviction. If O’Brien does not violate the terms of his probation, his criminal case could be expunged.

According to court documents, O’Brien is barred from returning to Castlebay and cannot contact any of the people involved in the June 9 fight.

Scott MacMullan, O’Brien’s defense attorney, was not immediately available for comment.

Police wrote in charging documents that O’Brien and a female customer seated at the bar were “verbally going back and forth” before the Pennsylvania man attempted to strike her. The woman later told authorities O’Brien had called her an expletive before wrapping his hand around her neck and choking her.

A bartender came out from his station to try and restrain O’Brien, police said, but was pushed into a wooden post and then to the ground.

O’Brien got on top of the employee and began punching him in the face, authorities said, adding the bartender was injured and may have fractured his ribs.

O’Brien also punched the woman in the face before customers pulled him off of her, police said.

Officers responded to Castlebay shortly before 11 p.m. and the woman O’Brien was with tried to record the interaction, according to charging documents, ignoring their instructions to step back.

The woman soon tripped over her feet and fell against the bar stools, police said. As one of the officers attended to her, O’Brien lunged toward them and attempted to grab their handgun.

The other officers were able to get O’Brien on the ground, placing him on his stomach and putting him into handcuffs. O’Brien continued resisting until he was put into a patrol vehicle, police said.