A Pacific Beach bartender was viciously attacked after he asked a patron to wear a mask on the premises. NBC 7’s Lauren Coronado has details on the search for the assailant.
A Pacific Beach bar manager was violently attacked Labor Day weekend after asking patrons to wear their facemasks and it was all caught on video.
That employee tells NBC 7 he doesn’t want this to happen to anyone else and fears it could if the man who attacked him isn’t held responsible.
“Watching the videos, it was actually kind of scary, because it could have been a lot worse,” said Tony Aversa who didn’t see the man charging at him.
Before he knew it, he was hit across the face.
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“I kind of blacked out for a second. Kind of spun around told my other coworker next to me to call the cops immediately because I knew, I felt my nose was broken. I immediately started gushing blood all over the pavement,” he said.
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Aversa is a bar manager at the 710 Beach Club in Pacific Beach and says his job has turned more from a bartender to a rule enforcer.
Aversa says a group arrived on Labor Day weekend, asking for service, yet refusing to wear masks.
One of the men asked to see a manager – Aversa greeted him.
“He claimed our security guard had been rude, and I said, ‘I’d be happy to talk to you about it, I just need you to put a mask on, you’re literally within inches of my face,’” Aversa explained.
He didn’t. Instead, Aversa says the man pushed another bartender.
“The security guard and I got in between him and the female bartender,” he said.
And that’s when another man, part of the same group, attacked.
“It felt like getting hit by a brick. I felt my nose pop out of place,” he said.
He says he broke his nose and sinus cavity. He’s getting surgery next week – and will be out of work, again.
Another financial strain on top of losses from the pandemic.
His mom making this GoFundMe page to help with expenses – but most importantly, trying to rally the community together to find the man behind the attack.
“If he just thinks he can get away with it, what’s to stop him from doing it again?” Aversa said.
Aversa has filed a police report.
