SUGAR LAND, Texas – The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has opened an investigation after a veteran of the U.S. Army was hospitalized from being sucker punched at a Sugar Land bar.
The punch came as the Rosenberg man, who doesn’t want to be identified out of fear for his safety, was closing out his tab at Scholars and Scoundrels Bar and Grill in the early Tuesday morning hours.
While waiting to pay his bill, the victim tells KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding that an employee of the bar came up to him and used the “N-word.”
“It was closing time and that employee came up to me and he said, ‘What’s up, n-word,’” the victim said. “I told him, ‘Hey, I don’t communicate like that.’ And quote, ‘I say, you can’t say that respectfully.’”
The victim said he tried to explain to the employee he wasn’t comfortable with him using that word because it offended him.
Security camera video, with no audio, shows the two talking near the bar. That’s when seemingly out of nowhere, the bar employee unloads a sucker punch.
According to the victim’s girlfriend, he was knocked out.
“He was like, in and out of consciousness and he just didn’t seem like himself,” the victim’s girlfriend said. “He couldn’t get words out right. He was saying that his head hurt. The light was hurting. He said that he felt very dizzy, like he was going to pass out. So, I had to take him to the ER.”
The victim was then taken to the hospital where doctors say he may have suffered a concussion from the punch and fall to the ground.
A police report has been filed with the Sugar Land Police Department, who says they’re investigating. No charges have been filed yet.
In the meantime, the victim is calling on the bar to let the employee go.
“I pray that he gets the help that he needs, but, you have to take accountability for your actions,” the victim’s girlfriend said.
Sources told KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding that the employee has been fired from the bar following reports of the incident.
KPRC 2 has asked Scholars and Scoundrels Bar and Grill for comment. We have not received a response.
Watch KPRC 2 News at 5 and 6 p.m. for the full story.