Encounter With Bouncer, Customer at Hudson Valley Bar Goes Viral
Update 6/6: We've updated the article because police announced whether they are charging anyone involved in this incident
A violent encounter over money between a customer and a bouncer at a Hudson Valley tequila bar went viral.
According to a Facebook post, Mike Boyce was "assaulted" by a bouncer Friday night at Milo's Cantina in Poughkeepsie.
Jade Boyce said the disagreement began because Mike wanted to go outside to collect $40 to pay his tab. It's unclear from the video, below, what started the disagreement.
Mike got into an argument with an employee and bouncer. The altercation then became physical.
"He was then taken to the ground, put in a choke hold for several minutes, kneed and punched in the head and robbed by the staff," Jade Boyce wrote on Facebook.
Jade posted a video of the altercation to Facebook. In about 48 hours, the video has been shared over 2,400 times and viewed over 559,000 times. The video was also posted to Youtube which has nearly 70,000 views, as of this writing.
Jade said she reached out to the owner but hasn't gotten a response. Hudson Valley Post was unsuccessful in getting a comment from Milo's, as of this writing. We will update this article if we hear back.
City of Poughkeepsie police are investigating the altercation. Allegedly what led to what is seen in the video involves an unpaid bar tab, police say. There is also an allegation of a knife being involved.
According to City of Poughkeepsie police, there is more video than what has been posted on social media. Police are trying to obtain all video as they continue their investigation.
On Wednesday, City of Poughkeepsie police said Mike Boyce has declined to proceed with criminal charges.
"Without a cooperating victim we cannot proceed with a criminal investigation into what is seen in the video," City of Poughkeepsie police wrote in a press release.
Police did say the incident has been reported to the New York State Liquor Authority, as per department policy.
After watching the video what do you think? Warning: some of the audio contains curse words.