Update: And the plot thickens. WeHo Daily has LAPD audio referencing the ice pick, but media relations still insists there was no such thing. Like we said: WTF?

A fight outside Joseph's Cafe at 1775 Ivar Avenue last night got the true Hollywood treatment in the media this morning, after SoCal's news wire service reported at 3:45 a.m. that one cafe patron had been stabbed in the head with an ice pick.

Within hours, the Daily Breeze, WeHo Daily, ABC7 and LAist had the story.

Apparently, not one subsequent reporter bothered to call the LAPD, because press officer Norma Eisenman tells the Weekly that the alleged “ice pick stabbing” was nothing more than a good-old-fashioned fist fight, and that she has no idea where City News Service got the (otherwise pretty fantastic) weapon detail.

Which does explain why the victim's injuries were reported as “minor,” but doesn't explain why a video journalist at the scene, according to City News Service, “noted the crime scene investigation appeared more intense than what would be expected for a minor injury.”

We'd blame April Fool's, but that's not until Friday. Plus, there's something kind of fishy and faux pas-ish about the whole thing:

The original news flash cited Sergaent George Hoopes at the Hollywood Station as its source of information, but Hoopes isn't in the office anymore, and no one else at the station will talk. Eisenman will only say that the incident was misreported, and — as it was just your average bar brawl — has been “erased” from the LAPD media roll.

The fight allegedly (but who can we trust anymore, really!) started inside the cafe at about 10:30 p.m., then moved outside onto the sidewalk before LAPD officers intervened and detained two suspects.

From WeHo Daily:

Suspects were described as two white or hispanic males. One was between 20 to 30 years of age, about 6 feet tall and 215 pounds in weight, with short dark hair and wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. The second suspect was said to be closer to 20 years of age, about 5'10″ tall and 150 pounds.

So… ice-pick psychos? Or mere belligerent barflies? We'll keep sniffing around — because this is one hell of a Hollywood mystery worth solving.

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

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