A lighter may not be a costly item, but the 'mysterious disappearance' of one was enough to spark a fist fight among three men at a bar in Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth, on Saturday.

A police source from Kingston, though off duty, was on hand to witness the incident. He told THE STAR that blows began to fly so suddenly that other persons inside the bar looked on in amazement as the men tried to solve the case of the missing lighter with violence.

"There was about 15 persons in the bar, some of them were coming from a funeral. Everybody was there drinking and all of a sudden the three men started fighting," the cop explained before adding, "In truth, the way it happened made it very hilarious."

THE STAR heard that the three men were at first enjoying a game of dominoes. One of the men is said to have halted the game and went to purchase a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. A few minutes later he interrupted the game and went to the bathroom.

Aggravated

It was further said that the man interrupted the game a third time, only now he seemed aggravated while questioning the whereabouts of the lighter which he had purchased only a few minutes earlier.

After digging into all his pockets several times without locating the lighter, the man is said to have then directed his anger at the two men that were playing dominoes with him.

"Weh mi lighter deh? Di blue one weh mi just buy fi $30, a nuh one a unu have it? " the man is said to have asked. The source told THE STAR that after arguing with the other two men and accusing them of stealing the missing lighter, the enraged man suddenly shoved one of the other men before demanding that his lighter be replaced or his money given back to him. The fight then began.

THE STAR was also told that the third man got involved in the fracas when he tried to intervene, but was given a set of instructions to carry out with his mother.

"It started off with two men, but the third man tried to part the fight and was disrespected, so he joined the action," the police source recalled.

The melee reportedly ended when one of the men rushed outside and threatened to return with a machete, but was accosted by the other patrons inside the bar.

Interestingly, the lighter was found inside the bathroom and returned to the owner who simply jumped on his bicycle and rode off, but not before trying to argue that one of the men placed it there to make him look like a liar.

No arrest or report was made about the incident.