At a hearing of the Cambridge License Commission last night, The Spaghetti Club publicly defended itself for the first time against charges that bar employees escalated a fight among patrons on Aug. 30.

Bar employees told the commission they were only trying to protect a customer from a group of five others whom he had attacked, and witnesses who had previously said the bartender held a victim down during the fight said last night they were not sure it was he.

Defenseless victims "were not held down by any employees," said James J. Rafferty, attorney for Cranston Inc., the parent company of The Spaghetti Club.

Rafferty said club staff "acted appropriately" and that their behavior "wouldn't warrant any disciplinary action" by the commission.

The Spaghetti Club has had its licensed suspended twice since March 1994, according to commission Executive Officer Richard V. Scali, and risks having it revoked.

The three-member commission voted to take the matter under advisement. A decision is expected tomorrow morning.

Fighting Over Spilled Drinks

The entire incident started over a spilled drink, according to witnesses at the bar.

Joseph W. Squires and four to six of his friends were on one side of the bar. Joel W. Garrett was on the other side, having a drink with a friend and watching his girlfriend, then a server at the club.

Squires knocked over the server's tray and subsequently apologized, according to witnesses.

But before Squires knew what was happening, Garrett attacked him, witnesses said.

"Garrett grabbed Squires by the throat and had him pinned against the wall," Dennis M. Toner, a friend of Squires, told commissioners in the hearing.

Toner, Squires and several others in their party began fighting with Garrett and his friend Joseph T. Mills, witnesses said.

Scott E. Griffen, the manager on duty, and bartender Andre Haynes intervened, breaking up the fight. Griffen said he asked Squires and his friends to leave, and escorted them upstairs and outside of the club, leaving Haynes to calm Garrett and Mills.

"We were leaving and I asked the manager to keep [Garrett and Mills] inside while we left," said Kevin B. Conroy, a friend of Squires and Toner.