A bar bouncer is badly burned following a conflict with a patron that had been kicked out of the Port St. Lucie (FL) bar Sunday night.
The incident happened at Nelly's Grog House and was set in motion after the patron, Ivan Louis Rodriguez, 45, was accused of trying to hustle other patrons at the pool table. Rodriguez also failed pay his tab and owed the bar for previous bad checks he'd written them.
After Rodriguez was kicked out, he fetched a cup full of gasoline and returned a couple hours later to exact revenge on the bar.
The NY Daily News picks up the story from there:
That's when the bouncer, Brian Johnston, walked over. The two exchanged words, and the troublemaker was ejected, police said.
Surveillance footage at the bar clearly shows what happened next, as the bouncer and another man began chasing, and eventually caught up to, the suspect.
During the skirmish that followed, the deadbeat used a cigarette lighter and, with a visible flash of light the bouncer was set ablaze. Rodriguez then got into a pickup truck and drove off.
Johnston, who sustained severe burns to his arms, face and chest, was transported to a burn unit at an undisclosed Miami hospital, where he is listed in critical condition, Sgt. Frank Sabol of the Port St. Lucie Police, told the Daily News. Rodriguez is wanted for aggravated battery and authorities are searching for him as of Monday afternoon.
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