2 men charged in beatings of 2 women
Marque A. Lias is in Berks County Prison. Theadore R. Williams Jr. remains at large.
One of two Reading men charged with beating two women outside an Exeter Township tavern Nov. 2 is in Berks County Prison following his arraignment over the weekend.
Exeter police on Friday charged Marque A. Lias, 32, and Theadore R. Williams
Jr., 36, with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and related counts after a group of people had been ejected for an unspecified incident from Liberty Tap Room, 237 Prospect St.
Lias of the 900 block of Franklin Street was jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail following arraignment Saturday before District Judge
Kyley L. Scott in Reading Central Court. Williams, address unavailable, was not in custody as of Monday.
Police said two women were beaten in the incident, one by Lias and the other by Williams.
In addition to assault, Lias is charged with robbery because he grabbed a smartphone from one of the victims and smashed it on the ground, police said.
Investigators provided this account in court records:
The incident happened shortly after the tavern closed for the night. Witnesses said there had been an altercation in the bar and everyone had been asked to leave. The argument continued in the parking lot.
One of the victims said she was standing by the woods behind the parking area when she heard people yelling. She saw Lias pointing a handgun at people.
She asked him what he was doing and he told her to mind her own business. She recorded Lias on her smartphone as he tackled her and repeatedly punched and kicked her while she was on the ground.
He took her phone, smashed it on the ground, threw it toward the woods, then drove away.
The other victim said she tried to stopped the beating of the other women and was punched in the head and thrown to the ground by Williams. Witnesses said Williams pistol-whipped that victim in the head.
A tavern employee gave police a description of the vehicle in which Lias fled.
Early this month, police went to Crime Alerts Berks County, a nonprofit organization that pays cash rewards for tips, for help in identifying the second assailant.
On Friday, those efforts paid off when an anonymous tipster said Williams was the second man. Police confirmed this when a witness identified him in a photo lineup.