Chico police say no charges will be filed in the death of Terry Smith, a longtime bartender and cook at the Oasis Bar and Grill, following an incident outside the bar last December.
The update comes nearly five months after Smith’s death, a case that sparked widespread speculation and questions in Chico about what happened outside the bar.
Early media reports described Smith as trying to break up a fight. But a May 12 press release from the Chico Police Department says investigators determined Smith was accidentally killed when a person tried to stop a fight between Smith and Smith’s girlfriend.
Smith and his girlfriend had left a private event at the bar on Dec. 21 and came across an injured man outside, the release said. Police say the two began arguing about how to help him, and the argument turned physical.
Surveillance video showed Smith forcing his girlfriend to the ground while she punched him, the release said. A witness then pulled Smith away from the woman by the neck, and Smith lost consciousness almost immediately, the release stated.
Smith died days later at the hospital. An autopsy found he died from complications involving a major artery in the neck that carries blood to the brain.
The Butte County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case for possible involuntary manslaughter charges, according to the release.
Prosecutors decided not to file charges after determining the witness “likely” acted “in the defense of others,” the release said.
