Customer who refused to wear a mask attacks bar doorman with a glass, Texas bar says
A Monday night at work ended with stitches for a doorman at a Texas bar, the establishment says.
Joshua Vaughan was working the door at Houston’s Grand Prize Bar when a customer entered the building. Throughout his stay, he refused to wear his mask properly, KTRK reported.
Employees first asked the customer to adjust his mask when he arrived with it half-on, KPRC reported. Later in the evening, Vaughan spotted the customer coming out of the bathroom without a mask and approached him.
That’s when events took a turn for the worse.
“Before he could even say ‘mask,’ the guy just took the glass and smashed it over his head,” Lindsay Beale, the bar’s general manager, told KTRK.
The customer had taken the glass into the bathroom with him, Beale said, according to KPRC.
He then fled the bar, speeding off in a Toyota as bar employees took video of the car, KPRC reported. Beale told the outlet Vaughan’s head was “gushing blood.”
He was rushed to a local hospital where he received 10 stitches, The Houston Chronicle reported.
“I’ve never gotten full on blasted like this. He was quick. He was fast. He got me good. I’ll give him that,” Vaughan told KTRK. “I’m glad it’s just 10 stitches.”
The bar posted a photo of Vaughan’s bleeding head wrapped in gauze to its Instagram page, captioning the image, “The realities of running a business during COVID.”
The post has been liked more than 2,500 times as of Wednesday, and many commented their support for the bar and Vaughan.
“We just want to do right by everybody and we want those who want a safe place to go to have one,” Beale told KPRC.
Houston police are investigating the incident and describe the suspect as being in his 20s or 30s with brown hair, the Chronicle reported. He was wearing a hat and backpack at the time of the incident.
The bar also shared a surveillance image of the man to Instagram.
Police said they have a potential name, which was listed on the suspect’s bar tab, according to the newspaper.
“Wear a mask,” Vaughn told KTRK. “If you don’t want to wear a mask, please stay home. There’s other stuff to do. You don’t have to go to a bar if wearing a mask is that big of a deal.”