Watch Toronto Pool Bar Bouncers Punch Customers During Brawl

A video has surfaced that appears to show several bouncers at Cabana Pool Bar—one of Toronto's more expensive establishments—restraining and assaulting patrons on Sunday afternoon.

The two-minute clip, posted by local real estate agent Ryan Calvert, opens by showing a man wearing a blue shirt that says "SECURITY" uppercutting a man who looks like he's being restrained. Someone then throws water on the bouncer who delivered the uppercut. A couple seconds later, the same bouncer punches a customer in the head from behind.

The man who got punched from behind stands up and faces the bouncer, who proceeds to dive at him and throw four more punches. Several bouncers, all wearing the same uniform, then flood the frame as one bystander shouts "This is going to Worldstar!"

Jamil Kamal, director of risk management at INK Entertainment, which represents Cabana, told VICE the police are now investigating the matter.

"Cabana takes incidents such as this one very seriously. We are cooperating with the Toronto Police Service so that they can understand the entire context of what took place including the customer conduct that lead to the altercation. Our priority is to ensure that our venue is a safe place for everyone including staff and customers. This was a very unfortunate incident," he said in an email statement.

Speaking to CTV, Josh Gomes said he was one of the men punched by the bouncer and that he threw water at him after the bouncer put his friend in a headlock. He said his friends and a neighbouring group had gotten into a fight.

But Calvert, 29, whose video has been viewed on Facebook more than 150,000 times, told VICE that he too was assaulted and harassed by bouncers when he started recording. He said he was at the bar Sunday for the first time when he noticed bouncers repeatedly "manhandling people."

"I'd seen the bouncers going too far on a couple of occasions, like punching people and kicking people when they're on the ground," he said.

After he started filming, he said several bouncers ganged up on him, telling him to delete his recordings.

"One guy just grabbed me and was like 'delete it, delete it.' There were about three guys on me, they were making me show them I was deleting it while they were restraining one arm."

He said he deleted most of the videos, but when he got to the most "compelling" one, he handed his phone off to his wife. He said the bouncers then confiscated her phone, thinking she had been recording also. Calvert's wife was able to get her phone back, and Calvert was kicked out.

"They took my arm and twisted it around my back and three guys carried me out like that. One guy slapped me in the face."

Calvert said he won't be pressing charges and that he will never go back to Cabana. He said he asked to speak to the managers and was brushed aside and laughed off when he said he was going to "let the whole city see" what had gone down.

"It was a horrible experience," he said. "I thought it was a higher end establishment. It seems like a lower end bar in a good location."

Cabana boasts waterfront views and has a strict dress code that encourages "casual chic beach attire" and prohibits "jeans, shorts, doo-rags."

Cabana is part of Ink Entertainment, founded and run by ‎Charles Khabouth‎, arguably Toronto's most successful nightlife promoter.

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