A Winona man was charged Friday in an Oct. 27 assault and robbery outside an East End bar.

Casey Ray Kanz, 24, is charged with first-degree aggravated robbery, aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery, third-degree assault and aiding and abetting third-degree assault. Kanz insisted to police and in court Friday that he is innocent.

Two other suspects in the incident were still at large Friday, Deputy Police Chief Tom Williams said.

The charges stem from an apparently random attack outside the Handy Corner, 700 E. Fifth St., where two men were jumped, beaten and robbed.

An officer was flagged down by two men at about 1:20 a.m. Oct. 27 on Third Street. The two men had blood "all over their faces," and said they had been jumped outside the Handy Corner, court documents show.

The men said they went to the bar for a few beers and noticed several people they did not know trying to start a fight. They called for a cab and went outside.

As the men waited for the cab, one of them was punched, court documents show. The other man tried to break up the assault and was attacked by two men, he told police. He fell to the ground and went into a fetal position to protect himself.

The attackers took the man's wallet, and he ran away. The assault left him with a broken nose and cheek bone and stitches above his eye and inside and outside of his lip, according to the criminal complaint. Injuries for the other victim are not in the criminal complaint. The second victim told police he has no memory of the assault after getting punched.

The man who was robbed picked Kanz out of a photo lineup, court documents show. The victim said he had been drinking before the assault, but said he was not heavily intoxicated.

The next day, a police investigator spoke to a 25-year-old man who said he was at the Handy Corner with Kanz and another man. The man said Kanz was involved in an altercation outside the bar and called him the instigator, court documents show.

Kanz was arrested Thursday evening and said he was at

the bar, but denied being in a fight or committing a robbery. He told police they have the wrong man.

Judge Nancy Bostrack set unconditional bail Friday for Kanz at $100,000. Kanz again insisted in court he wasn't involved in the attack. He'll next appear in court Nov. 19 before Judge Mary Leahy.