Several recent incidents near downtown bars have raised eyebrows over the use of force by security personnel – a problem that surfaced when pepper spray was used on students to quell a violent situation early Sunday morning.
This weekend, two separate instances outside Thirsty Turtle on Route 1 required both bouncer and police attention and resulted in at least one arrest.
According to Prince George’s County police, an unidentified patron was removed from the bar for being disorderly. He continued to return to the area until police stepped in and took him to the corner of Lehigh and Knox roads. At the same time, a conflict between a male and female, who had not come from the bar, broke out.
According to Thirsty Turtle security camera footage, as the altercation escalated and a crowd began to form, a bouncer from Thirsty Turtle grabbed the male, Timothy Leconte, and brought him down the street toward the entrance to the university and out of range of the security cameras.
The 21-year-old Hyattsville, Md., resident was later apprehended by police and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and failure to obey a lawful order.
But student witnesses have a slightly different account of what happened and claim the bouncers and police officers used excessive force, including punching and kicking Leconte, while he was on the ground.
Commander of District 1 Maj. Dan Dusseau said Leconte was belligerent and officers tried to place him under arrest when he began to resist and refuse orders. Because they had trouble handcuffing him, they used pepper spray, which caused those standing nearby to cough, gag and flee the scene.
“When you have a big group like that and you have someone being loud and disregarding lawful orders, police have to make a decision very quickly,” Dusseau said. “We don’t know what they got [on them].”
Leconte sustained some cuts and scrapes and was transported to a hospital where Dusseau said he assaulted the doctor trying to treat him. The doctor declined to press charges.
Although Thirsty Turtle owner Alan Wanuck had not spoken to the bouncers involved in the incident, he said a large crowd followed the bouncer and Leconte down the street and that the bouncer was the victim of an assault and was taken down amid the hostile crowd.
But John, a junior university student who did not wish to be identified by his full name, said multiple Thirsty Turtle employees ganged up on Leconte, who was unable to retaliate. He added that after he saw the fight, he tried to get information about the police and bouncers involved but was threatened with arrest and was denied the information.
Another student, who asked not to be named at all, made similar claims that the bouncers and police “beat the hell out of [Leconte]” for seemingly unnecessary reasons.
Both Wanuck and Dusseau denied any use of excessive force or misconduct. Though the investigation is still incomplete, Dusseau said so far there is nothing to indicate any infraction, adding it is police procedure to review all uses of force.
Wanuck said all his security employees are certified in crowd management and do not throw punches or become physical outside of detaining rowdy patrons.
But this is not the first time bar patrons have claimed to be the victims of bouncer brutality.
Last month, police responded to an confrontation between bouncers and an unruly patron near the intersection of Hartwick Road and Route 1. Dusseau said police try to let the bars deal with situations because many times an actual crime is not being committed.
“We want the police officers to be the last resort because we don’t want to be in a position where they are asked to enforce policy and not law,” he said. “Also, we don’t want to tie them up in smaller issues and if something does occur, larger, then we don’t have them anymore.”
Student bargoers expressed mixed reactions to bouncer activity.
“Sometimes you see them punch people or hit them a little more,” junior kinesiology major Alex Aksanov said. “But if you’re not bothering them, they’re not bothering you.”
Junior economics major Yamil Martinez said bouncers at different bars act differently but admitted he has seen them abuse their power.
“Sometimes they want to treat it like a jail,” Martinez said, referring to a specific downtown bar. “If there’s nobody fighting and there’s no one in danger, you don’t need to be doing too much.”
Some students think it’s unfair to judge the actions of bouncers without the full context of the situation.
“They usually mind their own business,” senior government and politics and psychology major David November said. “When a situation does arise, they’re usually pretty swift. After you watch them in action, you know to not mess with them.”
Mark Srour, who owns The Mark, Santa Fe Cafe and Cornerstone Grill and Loft, echoed the sentiments of other bar owners and said the job isn’t as complicated as it’s made out to be.
“The main responsibility [of bouncers] is to keep the customers safe,” Srour said. “It’s more common sense than anything. It’s not brain surgery. You walk around and be friendly, talk to people, and if you see people arguing you go over and say what’s going on.
R.J. Bentley’s owner John Brown said he works with police to minimize incidents and maintains that any doorman who throws a punch or gets into a physical altercation would automatically be fired.
“We’ve never had that issue,” Brown said. “We try not to be that place.”
But this weekend will not be easily forgotten, as student witnesses said it has changed the way they view the roles and actions of security personnel.
“[Leconte] was yelling to the crowd, ‘Did any of you see this?'” John, the university student, said. “It was uncalled for what happened to that poor kid.”
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