Three men decided to have a good, old-fashioned brawl at the Vagabond restaurant and lounge. Unknown to the three scrappers, however, the annual police-appreciation dinner was taking place at the nearby Elks lodge. To make matters worse, the police affair was breaking up just as the fight at the Vagabond was breaking out. Ten officers quickly quelled the disturbance.

“You know, these guys picked a really wrong day to have this,'’ Forks police Chief Bruce Hall said Monday.

Three Shelton men were taken into custody on various charges related to the brawl.

A 29-year-old man was booked into Clallam County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault, while a 32-year-old will face possible charges of fourth-degree assault, Hall said. The third suspect is accused of obstructing police because he led Forks Officer Jim Dixon and Hall on a block-long foot chase.

Hall said the three men had been thrown out of the Vagabond a couple of hours earlier for causing a disturbance. They returned about 9 p.m., resisting owner Claude Clark’s attempt to force them out.

Patron William Backman of Forks intervened, but was kicked and punched by at least two of the suspects, Hall said. He was treated at Forks Community Hospital for three cracked vertebrae.

Hall said he had no idea why the brawl erupted. The men arrested were apparently in town on a fishing excursion.

“They weren’t really happy about missing their fishing trip,'’ he said.

Hall said there would normally be one officer, one supervisor and a dispatcher on duty on a Saturday night.

“It was nice to have the extra help,'’ he said.