Charlotte nightclub bouncers beat and kicked customer unconscious, lawsuit claims

A South Carolina man is suing the owners of an uptown Charlotte nightclub and its affiliates after he says an assault by club security left him bloodied and unconscious, and in need of facial reconstruction surgery.

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It’s the third lawsuit against Tequila House and its owner, Fifth Street Management, in two years.

A suit filed in February with the U.S. District Court of the Western District Court of North Carolina accused the club of using professional models’ images in their advertisements without the women’s permission. Tequila House was also sued in 2024 over allegations the club’s owners knowingly playing copyrighted songs without a license.

In the latest lawsuit, Ronald Hurtado of Sumter County said he visited Tequila House with his wife Itzell on March 15. While there, Itzell got sick and was in the bathroom while Ronald waited outside for her, according to the lawsuit filed in Mecklenburg Superior Court.

Ronald’s proximity to the women’s restroom led to multiple verbal reprimands from bouncers, who eventually told him to leave and assaulted him as he was doing so, leading to him losing consciousness, according to the lawsuit.

Hurtado was left with serious injuries and needed surgery for several broken bones in his face, the suit said.

The Charlotte Observer reached out for comment to Tequila House nightclub owners multiple times via phone, email and social media, but received no response.

Hurtado, a U.S. Army veteran, visited the club with his wife and two other couples to celebrate a friend’s engagement. As the night wore on, Hurtado’s wife began to feel ill and went into the restroom shortly before the club was set to close.

Hurtado was waiting outside the women’s restroom at Tequila House for Itzell when a bouncer approached and told him to “get the f— out of here,” according to the lawsuit. Hurtado told the security guard that he was concerned for his wife, but the guard insisted Hurtado leave the area and that it looked “weird” that he was waiting there.

Hurtado moved toward the staircase, while a friend told the security guard that Hurtado was waiting for his wife and the group was preparing to leave the club, the lawsuit said. Another guard grabbed Hurtado’s arm and told him to leave.

As he was walking down the stairs drunk and frustrated, Hurtado grumbled about the guards’ not allowing him to wait for his wife, he told The Charlotte Observer.

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“The next thing I know I’m waking up all bloodied,” Hurtado said.

A guard had struck Hurtado in the back of the head as he descended the stairs toward the exit, he said. Witnesses said Hurtado was “assaulted by the security guards, kicked in the face and thrown down the stairs, causing him to lose consciousness,” according to his lawsuit.

The guards continued to punch and kick Hortado in the face and head while he was unconscious, then dragged him outside where a third security guard “continued the assault,” according to the complaint. The bouncers ignored pleas from Hurtado’s friends to stop and, following the assault, taunted Itzell about it as she exited the bathroom, the lawsuit alleged.

Hurtado was taken by ambulance to Novant Health Presbyterian’s emergency department. He was later referred for reconstructive surgery related to his multiple facial injuries, which included fractures of the eye and jaw bones and nose, according to the complaint.

Hurtado’s ordeal, as he tells it, didn’t end that March night.

Just over a week later, Hurtado had emergency surgery to address the broken eye socket, he told the Observer. Today, he has a metal plate in his face.

A graduate student and social worker, Hurtado had to take a semester away from school and several weeks off work, he said. And he’s still discovering his limitations: flying causes nosebleeds and headaches with the plate. He recently discovered he has two fractured teeth from the incident.

The Hurtados have continued to experience emotional distress from the assault and its aftermath, according to the lawsuit.

None of that would have happened if the security guards, whose names are not known to the plaintiffs, hadn’t used “excessive and unreasonable force” against a patron who posed no threat, according to the complaint. The suit also alleges that the nightclub’s owners failed to properly train and control guards.

“Mr. Hurtado was doing nothing but waiting for his wife, and for that he was beaten unconscious and left with facial fractures that required surgery,” Hurtado’s attorney, Anthony Burts II, told the Observer. “One of the principal reasons behind this action is to hold the club and the people who ran the security accountable, and to ensure that this does not happen to anyone else.”

Hurtado is considering pursuing criminal charges, he said.

Tequila House and its affiliates have not yet responded to the filing, court records show.

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