The Mossos d'Esquadra have summoned a security guard from a pub in Lleida to testify as an investigated person for the alleged assault on a customer outside the Traganits music bar, on Darrere Sant Martí street. The complainant, a 24-year-old young man, suffered a head trauma and remained for 18 hours at the Arnau de Vilanova hospital.
The events occurred around 0:30 on Friday morning, when the young man tried to access the premises. According to the complaint filed with the Mossos, the guard prevented him from entering. The young man maintains that he asked him several times why he could not enter and that the only answer he received was that the owners had given that order.
"I asked him on several occasions why I couldn't enter. He told me that the owners had told him no. I have been there other times without any problem. I insisted on the reason for the prohibition. Without telling me anything else, he gave me a strong push, I hit my head against the floor and lost consciousness for about half an hour" - complainant
Attended by the Guardia Urbana and the SEM
After the fall, officers from the Guardia Urbana and the Sistema d'Emergències Mèdiques attended the scene. The young man was evacuated by ambulance to the Arnau de Vilanova hospital, where he remained admitted until 6:50 p.m.
The injury report includes head trauma, headache, nausea, and otorrhagia, that is, bleeding in the ear canal. Upon leaving the hospital, the young man filed the complaint with the Mossos d'Esquadra.
Investigations opened and transfer to court
The Catalan police opened proceedings for these events and summoned the security guard to testify as a suspect. The proceedings will be sent to the court, as indicated by a police spokesperson.
The version of the establishment differs from that of the complainant. The owner assured that he did not witness what happened because the incident occurred outside the establishment and specified that the guard works for a contracted security company.
"The events occurred outside and I did not see what happened. The guard belongs to a company we have hired" - owner of the establishment
Conflicting versions on the reason for denied access
The young man maintains that behind what happened he only sees a veto for racism. He maintains that the aggression was motivated by discriminatory treatment after he was denied entry to the pub.
The owner of the establishment rejects that interpretation. His version is that the young man was prevented from entering because he was drunk, he was aggressive, and he was not dressed appropriately. He also denied that there was any racist motivation in the decision not to let him in.
With the investigations already opened, it will now be the judicial investigation that must clarify what happened outside Traganits that early morning and if the guard's actions may constitute a crime.