A 26-year-old New Berlin man has been accused of stabbing a bouncer outside the Salty Toad bar last summer.
Juan Meza, 15939 W. Robin Road, was charged Thursday, March 13, in Waukesha County Circuit Court with negligent handling of a weapon, failing to aid a victim, carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct, all misdemeanors.
Waukesha Police Capt. Ron Oremus said his department sought a felony charge of first-degree reckless injury, but the Waukesha County District Attorney's Office did not file the charge. Assistant District Attorney Lesli Boese, the prosecutor in the case, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Meza is being sought on a $1,000 cash bond after failing to make an initial court appearance Monday, March 24, according to court records.
According to the criminal complaint, Waukesha City Police were dispatched at about midnight Saturday, July 13, to Waukesha Memorial Hospital in regard to a stabbing. The officers spoke to Jordan Stearnes, who said he had been stabbed twice at the Salty Toad, 921 Friedman Drive.
Stearnes, a bouncer at the bar, said he chased two men who fled after a fight.
Stearnes said in the complaint that he caught up to one of the men, later identified as Meza, and grabbed his shoulder. Meza allegedly swung around and stabbed Stearnes with an 8-inch pocket knife.
A witness identified Meza as the attacker, the complaint said.