A 22-year-old Lawrence man is recovering from injuries suffered when he was struck in the head early Sunday morning in a downtown Lawrence alley.

Friends and family members said the man helped break up a fight between two of his friends and four to five other men behind Quinton’s Bar and Deli, 615 Mass. Once that altercation seemed to be under control, someone struck the 22-year-old man in the back of the head, which caused him to fall headfirst into stairs in the alley, according to the police report.

Lawrence police were called about 1 a.m. to the alley behind Quinton’s. The victim originally declined medical attention, but he spoke with police again on Monday, when he went to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said Sgt. Paul Fellers, a Lawrence police spokesman.

Family members said the victim was at Kansas University Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., Tuesday with a fractured skull and broken nose. Fellers said police are searching for a suspect who is a white, college-age man, with a stocky build and a large tattoo on at least one arm.

Anyone with information can call police at 843-TIPS or 832-7509, Fellers said.