A jury in New London Superior Court has awarded $117,699 to two men who were severely beaten at The Exchange Bar & Grill six years ago by two men who sometimes served as bouncers at the Bank Street bar.

The six-member jury found on Sept. 22 that The Exchange, formally known as the Exchange Group LLC, failed to adequately train and supervise its employees and failed to maintain safe conditions.

Attorney Beth Sabilia, who represented plaintiffs Oscar Tejada and Moises Simaj, said the two men were grateful for the jury's work. She said the jury award was for medical expenses, pain and suffering in the past and future, and lost wages.

According to Sabilia and court records, Tejada and Simaj were beaten unconscious by Jacob Appleby and Nicholas Keramidas during the late hours of Oct. 5, 2010, a Tuesday, and the early morning hours of Oct. 6, 2010.

All four men were drinking at the bar when they got into a verbal altercation about a woman that Simaj "had a crush on," according to Sabilia. Appleby and Keramidas attacked the two men with their closed fists, feet and a barstool, she said.

They beat Tejada "to the point of unconsciousness, then dragged his body to the men's restroom, where they continued to beat and kick him, according to the lawsuit. He suffered severe injuries to the head, face, chest and back and underwent surgery to correct bone fractures and a deviated septum.

Simaj suffered blunt trauma to the head, a concussion, swelling of the face and scalp and lacerations, according to the complaint. He continued to bleed from the eye for several days and has permanent scarring to the face and disfigurement of the pupil.

Simaj crawled to the street and was hustled away by the first ambulance that arrived, Sabilia said. Tejada, still inside the bar, was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in the second ambulance.

The experience was traumatic for both of the men, who had recently become friends and who that day had gone fishing and swimming together in Voluntown, Sabilia said.

"Both guys testified at the trial that they're not the same people," she said.

Appleby and Keramidas were arrested following the incident. Appleby pleaded no contest on Aug. 30, 2012, to third-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment and was sentenced to 45 days in prison followed by two years of probation. Keramidas pleaded guilty on the same date and received the same sentence.

At the trial, Simaj and Tejada testified it was the first time they had ever been to the Exchange. They said that after returning from Voluntown, they went to the Hot Rod Cafe, where Simaj works, and had wings, then went to the Exchange, where they had two beers each. The fight occurred after Jodi Aliberti, who worked at Hot Rod's with Simaj, came into the bar with a group of friends, according to Sabilia.

Keramidas and Appleby both testified that they sometimes helped keep order at the bar in exchange for food and drinks. Keramidas said that Aliberti walked up to him and asked him for help with Simaj and Tejada, who were harassing her, according to Sabilia.

Aliberti testified that she never asked for help, according to Sabilia. 

The bar's owner and permittee, Kip Bochain, testified that it would be impossible to ensure 100 percent safety in every bar in New London, and that it's unreasonable to be expected to have security staff working on a Tuesday night in October, according to Sabilia.

"He said he would never countenance this kind of violence," she said.

Bochain could not be reached for comment Friday.

Attorney Christine Synodi, who represented The Exchange, said she would be filing post-trial motions to ask the court to reconsider some of the issues of law.

Judge Leeland J. Cole-Chu presided at the trial.

k.florin@theday.com