Warren woman faces assault charge after bar fracas

WARREN — Tara M. Rutherford, 29, of Robert Avenue Northwest, has been charged with felonious assault, following the stabbing of another woman at the Premier bar, 2261 North Park Ave., at 12:55 a.m. Sunday.

A Warren police report says a bouncer at the bar told police he walked Rutherford into the bar because Rutherford did not have an ID and just wanted to talk to her friend.

But when Rutherford saw a woman inside, she grabbed her hair from behind, pulled her off balance and started to drag her towards the door.

Security said they tried to separate the woman and tried to get them out.

Once they were outside, Rutherford pulled out a lock blade knife and started to swing it around, then stabbed another woman in the left side of her chest.

Security said they knocked Rutherford to the ground and she dropped the knife, which they recovered.

Officers arrested Rutherford and attended to the stabbing victim, 33, of Girard, who said she could not breathe. She was taken to the Trumbull Regional Medical Center for treatment,

The first woman who was assaulted, 36, of Girard, said she and Rutherford are dating and that she and another woman were at the bar with the victim of the stab wound when Rutherford entered the bar.

That tavern has been the site of problems in the past, when it was known as The Paradise bar and Benji Brown’s Bar.