Cops busted three people at a wild Philadelphia wedding brawl that tragically led to the fatal heart attack of a bride’s uncle yesterday, officials said.
YouTube footage showed club-wielding cops in the Sheraton Society Hill lobby, fighting to control a melee that began in the hotel’s bar, according to published reports.
It wasn’t clear if the 57-year-old heart-attack victim — identified by the Philadelphia Inquirer as the uncle of the bride — is shown in the one-minute, 12-second clip. All the while, at least one woman could be heard letting out a blood-curdling scream.
The violence broke out when guests from a wedding reception, held at the hotel, began fighting at the Sheraton’s bar, cops told the Philadelphia Daily News.
Then the brouhaha went completely out of control when guests from another wedding party, at another venue, came to the Sheraton and joined the violent mix.
Two men, described to be in their late 20s, were arrested for disorderly conduct and one more picked up, but not immediately charged.
“If we had the opportunity to hit everyone with disorderly conduct, we probably would have,” Philadelphia police Lt. Ray Evers told the News.
“The 75 to 100 people involved probably deserved to be locked up.”
The YouTube footage appeared to capture a woman in a long white gown knocked to the ground during the commotion.
“Did they just deck the bride?” said the video’s shooter, 15-year-old Max Schultz.
Max was in town with his Camp Hill, Pa., family to celebrate his birthday, according to the News.
The brawl woke up his family and the fast-thinking teen grabbed his iPhone and began shooting.
“I told him, ‘Wow, you’re not going to forget this birthday!’ ” said mom Sue Schultz.
Max appeared irritated the brawl was interrupting his night of sleep. He could be heard on the YouTube clip: “It’s my freakin’ birthday, go to bed.”
The heart-attack victim was taken to Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m. on Sunday.
“There was an issue with a lot of alcohol fueling the fights,” said Evers.
The Schultz family estimated that 50 to 100 revelers took part in the free-for-all and nearly as many cops showed up.
“It started to sound more like shouting than partying,” the 15-year-old Schultz said of commotion that started at about 2 a.m.
“I saw a million police officers and started taping,” he added. “They [police] were storming the hallways. They came up the elevator looking for people.”
Police, who used a Taser to control one unruly partygoer, did not use excessive force, according to the Schultz family.
“It looked necessary because these people were obviously ramped up on stuff,” the boy said. “The people were fighting back. It was a mess.”
His mom agreed.
“There were a lot of drunk people and they were out of hand,” she said. “It seems like police came in quick and did what they needed to do, if you ask me.”