Courtesy photo
Bouncers in the city’s clubs would do well to know just who it is they’re smacking around. Nearly two weeks ago, Councilman Jim Graham’s chief of staff, Ted Loza, was hit repeatedly by a bouncer at Marvin, the hot new French bistro-cum-lounge on the corner of 14th and U streets.
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Loza says he was “assaulted” in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 22.
According to a report Loza filed with the police department, the incident began when “Bouncer #1,” as he’s identified, was being rude and threatening to Loza’s female friends. After Loza attempted to intervene, the bouncer cursed at him and put his finger in Loza’s face, prompting Loza to push him back. Another bouncer broke them up and assured him that there would be no further problems.
Loza says the bouncer later told him, “When you leave, I’m going to get a piece of you.”
When Loza and his friends left about a half-hour later, the bouncer followed them out and, after some verbal jousting, “Bouncer #1 hit me in the face a couple of times and gave me a bleeding nose.”
When the police arrived, they told Loza his choice was either to let it go, or they would arrest everyone involved.
Loza’s filing also said he plans to take “legal action against the establishment and its owners for fostering this type of unprofessional behavior” (among its owners are Eric Hilton, part of the famous D.C.-based DJ duo Thievery Corporation), and possibly bring up whether Marvin’s liquor license should be suspended.
Which brings us to the question of what the pugilistic bouncer didn’t know. Loza’s boss, you see, chairs the Committee on Public Works and the Environment, which has oversight over all the alcoholic beverage licenses in the city.
The bouncer has since been let go, according to Graham.
Despite repeated phone calls, a manager at Marvin could not be reached on Monday.
