mini-riot early on Saturday morning.

Police said three people have been arrested since the melee which saw one man wounded in the head with a bottle, another man stabbed and Police threatened by a man with a handgun.

Police spokesman Evelyn James Barnett said the fight began just after midnight in the Captain's Lounge on Reid Street when a 23-year-old Pembroke man's conversation with a woman grew heated.

The woman left and returned with a male friend who confronted the man and struck him in the head, seriously wounding him.

Violence erupted, with bar patrons joining the fight and a 25-year-old Devonshire man was stabbed, two women were severely bruised and another man's head was cut open with a bottle.

As Police arrived at the scene the fight was spreading out of the bar into Reid Street.

An officer grabbed the 23-year-old Pembroke man and took him across the street away from the fight in an attempt to calm things down.

While the officer's back was turned, someone hit him across the head and the man he was holding broke free and ran along Washington Lane past La Trattoria.

The officer chased him but another man appeared in his path and produced what it is believed to be a handgun.

He pointed the gun at the officer -- ending the pursuit.

Police are still looking for the man, who is described as a slimly built brown-skinned male standing approximately 5 feet, eight inches tall with a box haircut with two lines on the right side of his head.

He is believed to be between 18 and 21 years of age.

By this point several other Police units had arrived at the scene and were forced to defend themselves against thrown bottles.

One detective constable was hit in the back with a helmet but was not seriously injured.

However, when contacted yesterday, the owner of The Captain's Lounge, Melvin Dillas, denied elements of the Police report.

"None of my staff were injured,'' he said, "and no-one was stabbed in the bar.

"What happened in the street -- I don't know -- but no-one was stabbed in here.'' Mr. Dillas conceded that a "fracas'' had broken out in the bar when a man hit another man with a bottle.

At that point, he said, "the lights went on, the music was turned off and the authorities were contacted''.

Stabbing incident He stressed that he had ample security with "five or six'' guys on the door who got everybody out of the bar when the man was hit by the bottle.

"The Police came and they were fighting out in the street -- what happened from there on I don't know -- but everyone was moved out of here.'' The Police reported that the bar area of Captain's Lounge was extensively damaged also but Mr. Dillas said this was not the case and he was open for business as usual.

Mr. Dillas added that he was a member of the United Bar Owners Association -- a group of five bars which have joined together to ban disruptive behaviour from their establishments.

He said he would be speaking with the Police, his staff and the other owners to figure out who was involved in the incident and take the appropriate action.

The 23-year-old Pembroke man was treated at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital -- where he has since been detained -- for a head wound which required 10 stitches to close.

The Police constable was treated for a perforated ear drum, bruising and swelling and later released.

Meanwhile three people have been arrested and Police are making progress in the investigation, said Ms James Barnett.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Police at 295-0011 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-623-8477.