CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WECT) – Detectives have filed arrest warrants for people involved in a large assault in Carolina Beach.

The fight was between two groups of about 30 people who had just gotten off a party cruise. Police say everything was fine on the boat, but the melee that followed put four people from the Wilmington in the hospital – one of them needing emergency brain surgery.

Witnesses told New Hanover County dispatchers that they could see people using knives, poles and a shovel as weapons.

Police said they were outnumbered that night, making safety a priority. Chief Kurt Bartley said officers did everything they could that night without sacrificing the safety of themselves or anyone else involved.

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – A total of 2,164 traffic and criminal violations were made recently in New Hanover County, 109 of which were DWI-related.

A news release from an NC Department of Transportation spokesperson revealed that, across the state, 3,147 motorists were cited for driving while impaired during a holiday “Booze It & Lose It” campaign that ran from Dec. 7 to Jan. 2.

Additionally, 110,692 traffic and criminal citations, 6,381 safety belt and 1,134 child passenger safety violations, 364 speeding violations and 3,543 drug charges were issued statewide.

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – Detectives with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office are asking for the public’s help in locating a man they want to question.  

Mario Ramirez Mendoza, 35, is wanted for questioning as a witness to an assault case from 2009, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. He is 5-foot-4, Hispanic and weighs 185 pounds.

If you have any information regarding Mendoza’s whereabouts, you’re asked to contact the sheriff’s office detective division at 910-798-4161.

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