Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Joseph man in connection with an Aug. 5 bar fight that preceded a car wreck that sent five people to the hospital and said that more arrests may be made.

Dan Martin, 51, was arrested Friday on a Wallowa County misdemeanor warrant on charges of assault IV, intimidation II, disorderly conduct II, harassment and criminal trespass II. He was transported to Umatilla County Jail and is now free on $15,000 bail.

“Mr. Martin was the primary instigator of the incident, the fight,” Wallowa County Sheriff Fred Steen said Tuesday.

Martin is the husband of Joseph Mayor Peggy Kite-Martin, who was not present during the incident, but later commented: “Pouring alcohol over stress is never a good idea, especially in a bar situation … I was surprised there was only one arrest. There was a lot of hitting going on.”

There may well be more arrests, according to officials. Steen, who has reviewed the investigation report of Deputy John Campbell, said the fight was precipitated when Martin made some racially-related remarks to a black man in the bar at Shooter’s, according to witnesses.

“There may be some charges against some people in the crash,” Steen said. “Obviously, alcohol played a part in the accident … alcohol played a part in the fight.”

Oregon State Police Sgt. Larry Graves declined to comment on the results of OSP’s crash investigation, as it had been passed on to Wallowa County District Attorney Mona Williams.

According to an OSP news release, five persons had left the bar following the fight at Shooters in a Chrysler Sebring four-door.

Arraignment is set for Sept. 5, said Wallowa County District Attorney Mona Williams.

Deputy John Campbell discovered the crash near milepost five of the Wallowa Lake Highway, near a corner where the speed was reduced from 55-35 mph.

Campbell found the car about 100 feet up a driveway with five injured men inside.

Enterprise ambulance responded and transported two passengers with non-life threatening injuries to Wallowa Memorial Hospital.

They were right front passenger Lawrence Puckett Jr., 31, from Arlington, Texas, and right rear passenger Stacy D. Williams, 35, from Bonney Lake, Wash.

Three patients with critical injuries were flown by air ambulance to Sacred Heart Regional Medical Center in Spokane, Wash.

They were driver Brian B. Beauloleil Jr. 34, from La Grande, left rear passenger Damon Lee Stevens, 32, from La Grande, and center rear passenger Michael Lee Williams, 26, from Redmond, Wash.

A Sacred Heart Spokesman would not release information on the condition of anyone in the crash without a date of birth, and Graves did not have their birthdates.

It has been rumored that one or more of the persons in the car had died, but the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office had no record of anyone with names matching those involved in the accident of having died in the county.

Sheriff Steen said that his office doesn’t have the manpower to monitor every bar to see if they are abusing their liquor license by over-serving to intoxicated patrons.

“If certain bars become problem bars, I’m going to do everything I can to get it stopped,” Steen said.

The report from the incident at Shooter’s has been passed on to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, he said.