Patrons of club came to aid of stabbing victim
Written by KERNAN, JOE
Tue, Jun 10 08
By JOE KERNAN

Someone once said there’s no such thing as bad press but don’t tell that to Bonnie Donahue, the owner of Eddie’s 529 Club on Warwick Avenue. Ever since a stabbing victim ended up in Eddie’s parking lot, she’s afraid people will get the wrong idea about her establishment.

“We have been here 32 years and not one violation in that time,” she said yesterday. “In fact, it’s a good thing he came to Eddie’s because that’s where people immediately came to his aid. One of my customers, Craig Arruda just ran up and put pressure on the wound immediately to stop the bleeding, without even thinking about it.”

It all started earlier in the evening, when the victim, identified as Jeremiah Plante, 32, came into Eddie’s and immediately started saying provocative things to the patrons.

“It was like he was looking to annoy people, to provoke them,” said Donahue. “He was ignored and left.”

Where Plante went after that has not been revealed. Police are investigating.

“It appears that he went somewhere and got involved in a confrontation with somebody and got stabbed in the back,” said Detective Captain Michael Babula of the Warwick Police who added that Plante’s wound was serious but not life threatening.

Babula said they do have a suspect in mind and they are looking for him now.

In the meantime, Bonnie Donahue is worried people will get the wrong impression about Eddie’s. She said she has a loyal clientele that she can count on to help her with anything.

“We have got such wonderful people who come here, I’m disappointed in the way the television news has been reporting the incident,” she said. “One of them said that he was shot and of course he was not, and another one said he was stabbed in the bar, which he was not.”

Although Donahue has her guesses about where Plante was when he was stabbed, she agreed with the police and she wouldn’t speculate publicly. But she does want people to know that Eddie’s is a nice place to go, where you can get good food and good conversation.

“We have got a group of musicians who love to play here,” she said. “Some of the best around come in to play and we hire the best bands around.”

Donahue wanted to emphasize that her pub is not some kind of shady bar where people come to make trouble. She has what she calls a “Black Top” film festival in the parking lot.

Donahue said she wouldn’t be doing things like that if the people at Eddie’s would cause problems.

“We have got the nicest people you can imagine,” she said. “Even this incident, he [Plante] came to Eddie’s. And one of my customers, Craig Arruda, did his best to help the guy until Rescue came, even though the guy was so annoying earlier. It’s like he came to Eddie’s because he knew we would help him.”

In the meantime, Babula said it looked like Plante will survive. He also promised to present a fuller accounting of the incident to the public when the investigation was completed.

Link to Beacon Web Story is here:
http://warwickonline.com/warwickonline/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37476&Itemid=30