Richard Erpelding knocks man unconscious in downtown fight; victim requires brain surgery

24-year-old Michigan tourist Richard Erpelding knocked a man unconscious during a fight at 1st & Broadway early Sunday morning. Erpelding reportedly was hitting on a female member of another group when one of her friends told him to stop and may have pushed him. Witnesses say Erpelding then punched the victim, Christopher Thompson, knocking him unconscious. He was transported to the hospital and had not regained consciousness at the time of the report. Doctors report he would have to have surgery due to an injury to his brain.