Man charged with using $190 bottle of tequila as deadly weapon heads to trial

A Beaver County man in January bought a $190 bottle of tequila at a Pittsburgh bar and smacked another man in the head with it, knocking him unconscious and fracturing his skull, police said.

Now the accused and two other men involved in the sidewalk brawl are heading to trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court following preliminary hearings Monday.

Jose Miguel Rosario-Rosario, 23, of Ambridge; Jose Alberto Ventura-Rojas, 25, who shares a home address with Rosario-Rosario; and Luis David Navarro Nova, 28, of Turtle Creek are charged in the attempted killing of Joksam Reyes-Gonzalez about 2 a.m. on Jan. 19.

That night, an argument escalated into a street fight involving 20 people outside Insomnia Bar & Restaurante Mexicano in the city’s Brookline neighborhood, according to Pittsburgh police.

Surveillance video showed a group of people carry Reyes-Gonzalez’ limp body away from the scene. He was taken to UPMC Mercy hospital in critical condition, a criminal complaint said.

Reyes-Gonzalez suffered a skull fracture, brain bleeding and a subdural hematoma, in which blood accumulates between the brain and the skull. His condition Monday was unknown.

Video initially showed the victim approach a table inside the restaurant where the three defendants were standing shortly after 2 a.m., the complaint said.

A “verbal confrontation” started but no punches were thrown, the complaint said. Two groups then walked out of Insomnia and onto Brookline Boulevard’s sidewalk.

Within moments, Ventura-Rojas started punching the victim, the complaint said. Rosario-Rosario hit the victim in the right side of the head with a bottle of Don Julio tequila, according to the complaint.

After Reyes-Gonzalez collapsed, Ventura-Rojas stomped on the victim’s head and upper body before being pushed away, the complaint said.

The credit card receipt for the tequila helped police track down Rosario-Rosario, the complaint showed.

Pittsburgh police in February charged Rosario-Rosario, Ventura-Rojas and Navarro Nova with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and other counts.

All three men had hearings in court Monday and were being held in the Allegheny County Jail, court records show.

Local authorities worked with immigration officials on the case, the complaint said, but the suspects’ immigration status was unclear.

Rosario-Rosario used a Dominican Republic passport and a New York driver’s license to open the credit card account he used to buy the tequila at Insomnia, the complaint said.

Both Ventura-Rojas and Navarro Nova are referred to as Dominican in court records.

“We have to see how this plays out,” said attorney George Saba, who represents Rosario-Rosario. “I think there’s more to what’s going on than this investigation indicates.”

Saba would not discuss his client’s immigration status.

Owen Seman, who represents Ventura-Rojas, declined comment.

The Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office, which represents Navarro Nova, did not return a call from TribLive.