An abusive patron was thrown to the ground by security guards and a bartender was bitten by an amateur magician amid "debauched" Halloween celebrations in Dunedin’s Octagon at the weekend.
A video showing a man being escorted out of Catacombs Nightclub in a half Nelson before being thrown to the ground by a security guard was posted on TikTok and received more than 60,000 views in about 10 hours, since it was posted yesterday morning.
SPS Security owner Danny Taimalie said his first thought after seeing the video was that the security guard would need to be fired.
However, his investigations revealed there was more to the Saturday night incident than was captured in the 13-second clip.
He said the man had jumped a barrier to a performance space in the nightclub and had been asked to leave repeatedly by a young female security guard.
When the security guard finally went to grab him, the young man allegedly punched her in the face, Mr Taimalie said.
More staff attended and an altercation broke out when he was taken to the door.
The man allegedly made monkey noises and used racial epithets towards SPS staff, who were largely Pasifika and Maori, Mr Taimalie said.
After the man was thrown to the ground he got back up and tried to attack staff.
While he stood by his staff, Mr Taimalie did not condone the man being thrown on the ground and it was lucky he was not seriously hurt.
"This is a reason why we have procedures and protocols."
The security guard in the video had been asked to consider if he was in the right line of work, Mr Taimalie said.
At another bar in lower Stuart St, a witness said the evening was more chaotic and "debauched" than usual.
One intoxicated patron repeatedly performed magic tricks and had to be told by staff not to play with fire.
The patron refused to leave and bit a bartender when he was carried outside, drawing blood, the witness said.
