Prosecutors highlighted on Thursday the fortunate outcome for a Carlsbad bar-goer, whose encounter with a bouncer almost ended in a serious injury. The bouncer fired a taser from point-blank range, narrowly avoiding significant harm to the patron’s face.
Video footage captured the dramatic moment when both taser probes struck 21-year-old Robert Pulito’s left eye, sending him into intense agony as he fell to the ground.
The incident occurred when David Marquez, the bouncer involved, used the taser on Pulito after he was asked to vacate a San Diego bar, where he had been enjoying drinks in celebration of a FIFA victory.
Marquez now faces legal consequences with three felony charges laid against him, including assault with a stun gun.
In court, Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Coulter remarked on the fortunate circumstances for the victim, noting how lucky Pulito was in this particular situation.
“The probes from the stun gun hit him at the very corner of the inside of his left eye and about a centimeter or so below the middle of his left eye. At this time, there is no evidence that there has been substantial injury, [but] should there have been, we would have been asking for remand and no bail,” Coulter said.
The bouncer’s attack on the man was caught on video the evening of June 24 at the Park 101 bar. Marquez is seen aiming and firing a stun gun at Pulito, who then collapsed to the ground as bystanders attended to him.
Marquez was booked into the Vista County jail after officers arrived to arrest him before 8:30 p.m. that night. He’s also been fired from his job at the bar.
Two bar patrons said the establishment was packed for a World Cup game that night, NBC 7 San Diego reported. “For the Mexico game… I’ve never seen so many people here,” one man said.
Prosecutors found a separate social media video of Marquez involved in a fight with a bar patron on the same day, they said.
Marquez has a 2006 misdemeanor case for domestic violence, according to court records.
He’s scheduled to appear back in court next month.