Man’s face slashed in assault at 40 Watt club

By Joe Johnson

A 22-year-old Athens man was severely injured last week when assaulted inside the 40 Watt.

The incident happened early the morning of March 2, as Fredrick Heard was in a line of patrons who were filing out of the nightclub on West Washington Street.

Police said that it’s unclear what happened next because the victim was very intoxicated.

His friend, Jeremiah Rolling, told police that when he grabbed Heard to get his attention he saw that he was bleeding profusely from his face.

Another friend drove them to the hospital, where police interviewed the victim and his friends.

“Heard does remember how or who gave him the large gash,” police said. “At this time there is no suspect and no clear story as to what occurred.”

Heard and Rolling have both been identified by police as belonging to tthe 1831 Piru Bloods street gang, but there was nothing to suggest that the nightclub incident might have been gang related.