A 23-year-old Walpole man who insisted on lighting up a cigarette at the bar of Guido’s Res­taurant on Route 1A in Norfolk ended up taking on several people in a brawl, police said.

The man lit a cigarette and was told by the bar­tender to put it out, then lit up a second cigarette and was again told to put it out. State law prohib­its smoking in most bars and restaurants. The man produced a folding knife with a 3 ½-inch blade, which he held with his right hand behind his back, Norfolk Police Lieutenant Jon Carroll said. “A patron approached him to try to calm him down, and at that point the patron was struck in the face and knocked to the ground,” Carroll said. A second patron and a second employee of the restaurant were able to subdue the man, but in the process the employee sustained a minor lacera­tion on his right leg, Carroll said.

Police got the call at 6:20 p.m. Monday, Febru­ary 1. The man was charged with assault and battery on the first patron whom police say he punched; assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a dangerous weapon against the sec­ond restaurant employee who sustained the lac­eration; and disorderly conduct. He was held overnight on $2,500 cash bail, Carroll said.

Police believe alcohol was a factor in the inci­dent.