Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Hot-Shot Bouncer

Mike Pereira co-owns a recording studio in Golden Hill, but he used to work as a bouncer. “I worked for ten years in security [at clubs] in Miami and here in San Diego, and I never carried pepper spray. And if I had, I never would have used it in a nonviolent situation.”

On April 4, pepper spray was used on him at U-31 in North Park.

“It was a Friday dance night. It was my fourth time there. The security was completely hostile.… A friend accidentally knocked over the ashtray out front. As soon as he did, the main security guard grabbed him by the neck and forced him to pick up the ashtray. The guy that knocked it over said, ‘You didn’t have to grab me.’ ”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Pereira admits that he verbally engaged the guard at that point.

“He says, ‘Shut the fuck up…I make more money than you.’ I said, ‘Is that why you’re standing by the door checking my ID? Is that where you get all your money from?’ He tells me he has an $80,000 car parked around the corner. I asked him if he had a small penis to go along with the $80,000 car. That must have hit home because he told me to shut up or he was gonna spray me with pepper spray. So I said, ‘If you want to spray me, go ahead and spray me. Do it.’ ”

Bad idea.

“So he sprayed me point blank in the face and the guy next to me point blank in the face. While I’m trying to open my eyes, a full-on brawl broke out. I saw two of the biggest bouncers on the smallest guy in the club. I saw one of them kick him in the head. People were rolling around in the middle of University.”

Pereira says he asked to file charges against the bouncer.

“When the cops showed up, they told me if they arrested the bouncer they would also have to arrest me. I asked him why…I didn’t do anything. I was completely nonviolent. He told me the security guard had a cut on his face and it was swelling and it was because of whatever it was I said to him.”

Pereira admits that the bouncer did get hit in the face by his friend after the guard sprayed them.

“Nobody touched security until he sprayed the pepper spray. The reaction was purely self-defense.… I didn’t want to go to jail for whatever it was the kid did to him, so I left.”

U-31 owner Steve Billings did not respond to a request for comment. U-31 manager Erica Jessup would not comment.

“It was a total lack of self-control for someone in a position of authority,” says Pereira. “I’ve been smelling it for three days. It’s in my sinuses.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How a Childhood Car Crash Created San Diego's Most Tenacious Personal Injury Lawyer

Next Article

Live Five: Deaf Club, Ed Kornhauser, Little Dove, Kinnie Dye, Adam Wolff

Residencies and one-offs in Little Italy, Del Mar, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Coronado

Mike Pereira co-owns a recording studio in Golden Hill, but he used to work as a bouncer. “I worked for ten years in security [at clubs] in Miami and here in San Diego, and I never carried pepper spray. And if I had, I never would have used it in a nonviolent situation.”

On April 4, pepper spray was used on him at U-31 in North Park.

“It was a Friday dance night. It was my fourth time there. The security was completely hostile.… A friend accidentally knocked over the ashtray out front. As soon as he did, the main security guard grabbed him by the neck and forced him to pick up the ashtray. The guy that knocked it over said, ‘You didn’t have to grab me.’ ”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Pereira admits that he verbally engaged the guard at that point.

“He says, ‘Shut the fuck up…I make more money than you.’ I said, ‘Is that why you’re standing by the door checking my ID? Is that where you get all your money from?’ He tells me he has an $80,000 car parked around the corner. I asked him if he had a small penis to go along with the $80,000 car. That must have hit home because he told me to shut up or he was gonna spray me with pepper spray. So I said, ‘If you want to spray me, go ahead and spray me. Do it.’ ”

Bad idea.

“So he sprayed me point blank in the face and the guy next to me point blank in the face. While I’m trying to open my eyes, a full-on brawl broke out. I saw two of the biggest bouncers on the smallest guy in the club. I saw one of them kick him in the head. People were rolling around in the middle of University.”

Pereira says he asked to file charges against the bouncer.

“When the cops showed up, they told me if they arrested the bouncer they would also have to arrest me. I asked him why…I didn’t do anything. I was completely nonviolent. He told me the security guard had a cut on his face and it was swelling and it was because of whatever it was I said to him.”

Pereira admits that the bouncer did get hit in the face by his friend after the guard sprayed them.

“Nobody touched security until he sprayed the pepper spray. The reaction was purely self-defense.… I didn’t want to go to jail for whatever it was the kid did to him, so I left.”

U-31 owner Steve Billings did not respond to a request for comment. U-31 manager Erica Jessup would not comment.

“It was a total lack of self-control for someone in a position of authority,” says Pereira. “I’ve been smelling it for three days. It’s in my sinuses.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Gentrification is scarier than Bandhaunt

But Queen Bee’s show still spooks North Park
Next Article

Crimes against San Diego pets

Kensington, Little Italy, Ocean Beach, City Heights, Tijuana, Prescott, Arizona
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader