Two bouncers prevented an armed man from entering a Riverside bar Saturday, but suffered non-life-threatening stab wounds during the altercation, officials said.
Riverside City police said that just after midnight, the man tried to enter Duke’s Bar & Grill at 3221 Iowa Ave., but was stopped by bouncers when he refused to be searched.
“He tried to come in through the door with a lit cigarette. My security team asked him to put out the cigarette before he walked into the building. He did not, he refused. My security pulled the cigarette from his mouth and that’s when the whole thing started,” co-owner Nick Tafesh said in a video posted to the establishment’s Facebook page.
The suspect then allegedly pulled out a knife, stabbed a bouncer in the abdomen and was quickly pushed out into the parking lot by a second bouncer.
As the scuffle continued, the suspect stabbed the second bouncer in the back and neck, according to police, and then allegedly pulled out a gun and shot at both bouncers but missed, police said.
When police arrived, they found the suspect subdued by the two bouncers, who were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Suspect Hugo Cesar Garciao, 32, of Moreno Valley was also treated at a hospital for injuries suffered during the arrest and was booked on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder, police said.
The bar — near UC Riverside — recently reopened after a six-month closure due to an attic fire that damaged the building in July.