2 off-duty Revere firefighters stabbed

Parking dispute allegedly sparks series of fights

Two off-duty Revere fire- fighters were hospitalized with stab wounds and a man was arrested on an assault charge early yesterday following a series of fights that allegedly began over a parking spot, Revere police said.

Kenneth McDonald and Joseph Laurano were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital after they were found with apparent stab wounds in the parking lot of Club Caravan on North Shore Road just after midnight, said Lieutenant Jeremiah Goodwin, a Revere police spokesman.

The victims' ages and conditions were not immediately available. One of the wounded firefighters was in critical condition, said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office.

Goodwin said the series of fights began when a group of people scuffled with another group over a parking space outside the Caravan Club. No one was seriously injured in that altercation. Goodwin said the fight had stopped briefly when members of a third group arrived and ignited another fight, during which McDonald and Laurano were stabbed.

Authorities said they did not know how many people were involved in the fights.

Officers arrested Jakeem Gonzales on a charge of aggravated assault after allegedly starting the first fight, said Goodwin. He was being held on $10,000 cash bail pending arraignment tomorrow in Chelsea District Court.

There were no arrests in connection with the stabbings, but Revere and State Police were continuing to investigate.

The Revere Fire Department declined to comment yesterday afternoon on the conditions of the injured firefighters or their work history.

The Caravan Club had never been the site of such violence, Revere police said.

Globe correspondent John M. Guilfoil contributed to this report.