Reese L.
Yelp
BOUNCER ASSAULTS PATRON FOR NO GOOD REASON, WHAT A CROC!!"
Never left a negative review in my life, but I witnessed something unbelievable the other night. A minute or two after the last song of 'the last internationales' set ended, a great night of music was over.
As folks made their way from the stage to the adjacent bar, I was near the front door waiting for my wife to use the restroom. I noticed a man was pleading with the bouncer to let him re-enter to find his wife, to no avail.
I felt for him because the concert from start to finish was DANGEROUSLY overpacked and concerts and night clubs are scary places nowadays.
What continues to make zero sense to me is that he had bought a ticket, and his hand was stamped for re-entry. Yet the bouncer not only denied re-entry, he was rude and eventually child-like in his responses.. purposefully interrupting him repeatedly by shouting loudly
Clearly frustrated and surely embarrassed (at least I would have been)the patron finally gave up, turned around and walked toward the open section of the bar.
I was absolutely gob-smacked by the bouncer's next move. His eyes lit up and the look on his face was that of an uncontrollable rage. He began to give chase to the unsuspecting patron, pushing and shoving his way past the crowded bar, spilling more than one drink and causing at least one young girl to an injured leg or foot (duno if he stepped on her foot or what, but in the haste of his important mission, he didn't even acknowledge her)
Finally, the well-built 220-250 lbs bouncer wrapped both of his arms around the man's neck in what the mma-world calls a rear-naked choke. Also known to WWF wrestlers, and fans of Brutus 'the barber' Beefcake, as 'the sleeper hold.' The bouncer proceeded to drag the patron, by his neck, out the front door, and shoved him toward the wood or perhaps metal fencing that separates the smoking area from the sidewalk. Thank god, the 140 or 150 lbs man was barely able to keep his balance, or this could have been more horrific than it already was.
I overheard a woman ask the bouncer why he did what he did, to which the bouncer replied proudly, "because he called me a piece of shit," and "because I can."
I didnt hear the 'piece of shit' comment that the bouncer claimed the patron made. But, does it really matter what the man said? I began to wonder, over the last 24 hours, whether bouncers have some legal right to act like this.
So i looked it up, and was not surprised to find that bouncer's and security guards have no right, under ANY circumstances, to put their hands on anyone UNLESS they are being threatened, or physically attacked.
Not only can I vouch for the fact that didn't occur, but i caught almost the entire ordeal on video, thanks to my new iPhone.
Throughout the encounter, the patron never threatened the bouncer, nor did he seem overtly mad or defiant at any time. The bouncer never once requested that the patron leave the premises. And finally, when the bouncer assaulted him, the victim did not even attempt to resist being manhandled. In fact, the video shows the victim's face bright red, clearly gasping for breath as he was literally drug by his neck out of the crocodile.
Moments following the choke-and-drag-occurred, the victim was understandably in disbelief of what had happened but in surprisingly good spirits. When I asked him if he was ok, he explained that he had a bit of a kink in his neck, but that he was just upset that he didn't get to say 'hi' to his friends in the band.
His shirt and pants were soaked. Apparently he had ordered an $18.00 margarita which he was now wearing in nearly its entirety thanks to the attack.
The story ended somewhat happily, as his wife convinced the lead singer to come outside for a photo-opp. His lovely wife explained that The Last Internationale was 'their band' because the couple had actually met each other at their concert 6 years ago. I think they said it was their 6th time seeing the band in concert. They took pictures together and spoke for a moment before Delilah had to go back inside the crocodile.
I told the couple that I had gotten most of the incident on video, but he was apparently not interested in seeking any recourse. They were very resilient in that, they weren't going to let a little thing like 'assault and battery' ruin date-night.
Well, there was no way in hell I would've let it slide. And after contemplating whether I should post, I hope everyone reading can understand why I did.