Traverse City, Michigan – A man dressed as the Grinch was arrested last weekend for punching a man in a reindeer costume at a work Christmas party for a local oil and gas equipment company.
The two men attended a Christmas party at Hotel Indigo and got into a fight at around midnight last Saturday.
Traverse City police were called to the scene and had to break up the brawl that started in the bar and ended up the main hotel lobby.
A hotel employee identified as Jared Archbold jumped in and tried to break up the fight.
Archbold told police that the “drunk and angry” Grinch, and the man in the reindeer suit violently assaulted him for trying to intervene.
“Archbold told police that a “male in the reindeer suit” grabbed him and pushed him backwards. Then, with Archbold on the ground, the Grinch allegedly pummeled the hotel worker, who suffered “redness to his left eye” and a broken watch.” the Smoking Gun reported.
The Grinch, 30-year-old Tucker Lee Davis, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, The Smoking Gun reported.
The reindeer, 30-year-old Ryan Jones, was not charged.
The Detroit Free Press reported:
The Grinch and a reindeer have a drink at a bar.
But, the holiday cheer apparently didn’t last long.
Two men, both in their 30s, attended a work-related holiday party in costumes last weekend at Hotel Indigo in Traverse City and got into a heated argument before midnight Saturday. It turned violent, police said, when the Grinch took a swing at the reindeer.
Traverse City Police Capt. Keith Gillis said Tuesday the fight certainly was not in the spirit of Christmas.
The police, who were called to the hotel to break up the brawl, arrested the man dressed as the Grinch — the grumpy, green potbellied character in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” written by Dr. Seuss, in films and even a song — in connection with the misdemeanor.
“We go to assaults all the time,” the captain said, declining to release either man’s name. “But, obviously, with the media and social media, everyone is getting a chuckle out of it because it was the Grinch. I mean, it is was it is.”