Witness of USC Basketball Brawl Speaks Out

An employee from Spokane's The Wave Island Sports Grill and Sushi Bar shared her firsthand account of Sunday night's fights between USC basketball players and her fellow employees.

Heather, who did not want her last name revealed, said the evening began at a club with her co-workers.

"One of the players and one of our employees kind of exchanged words because they bumped into each other at the bar," she said.  Nothing more continued after that encounter.

Later in the evening as Heather and her friends left the club, she said they saw the basketball players again.  The athletes recognized her group of friends, approached them and initiated a fight, knocking down one of the restaurant employees, said Heather.

"Another one of our friends was picking him up, the girl--that same player--hit her face and then they both went down," she explained.

Heather said, at that moment, she immediately called the police. Meanwhile, a fight among seven people pursued.

The athletes took off when they heard the Spokane police was on its way, Heather explained.

After speaking with the police to report the brawl, Heather said she and her friends encountered the basketball players one more time at a different location. 

"At this point, myself and another girl, we went and hid in a doorway 'cause there was a huge fight and we were on the phone with 911," said Heather.

Heather saw a passerby uninvolved in the fight get "knocked out," and a player continued to kick him as he was down on the ground.

"It was more sad to see the people get hurt that were not involved, that were literally standing, watching, on the phone with the police," she said.

Heather and her co-workers were able to identify the athletes as Trojans because they yelled, "'we're representing USC; this is my teammate; I follow them; I stick up for them,'" she said.

Four people were hospitalized, according to Heather, one of which has broken bones in his face and no insurance to cover the damages.

Heather said she is "upset and frustrated" that it took so long for the aggression and abuse to subside.