A Gainesville man was arrested early Saturday morning on allegations he stabbed another man during an altercation over a hat at a downtown bar.

Dominic R. Lapastina, 34, was charged with aggravated battery for a fight at Lillian’s Music Store, 112 SE First Ave., according to an arrest report by the Gainesville Police Department.

Police were dispatched to UF Health Shands Hospital about 3 a.m. regarding a man with an inch-long puncture wound to his lower back near his spine. He had been taken to the hospital because he was losing blood, the report states.

The stabbing victim and a witness told police the incident started when the victim made a comment about Lapastina’s hat. The report did not describe the hat or the comment.

Lapastino hit the victim several times in the back, police reported.

The friend said he saw something in Lapastina’s hand but wasn’t sure what the object was. A bartender identified Lapastina from previous incidents at Lillian’s.

Initially the victim and his friend were unaware he had been stabbed. They discovered it when a large amount of blood was on the seat, floor and door in their car as they were leaving Lillian’s.

Surveillance video from Lillian’s shows Lapastina striking the man in the area of his wound after taking something out of his coat pocket, the arrest report states.