OTR bartender recovering after late-night attack on Main Street

An Over-the-Rhine bartender has been out of work for almost six weeks after he says he was attacked by two men, suffering a broken jaw.

According to a police report, the attack happened at 1351 Main St. in OTR just after 2 a.m. Jan. 3.

The document says a crowd gathered to help the victim, Frankie Beierlein, 36, who was lying on the ground, bleeding from the back of the head.

According to a GoFundMe, Beierlein works at 16-Bit Bar and Arcade, the Lackman and has worked at Tokyo Kitty. He has been out of work since the attack.

FOX19 NOW spoke with Beierlein on Tuesday. He says the attack happened so fast he only vaguely remembers what his attackers look like.

Police were reportedly unable to pull any surveillance video of the attack because of a lack of cameras in the area.

Beierlein says the men who attacked him approached him near Sycamore street to ask him for cigarettes, and he said no.

“One of them started shoving me and when I turned around the other had a brick in his hand and hit me in the back of the head and knocked me out, put a couple kicks to my face and took off running,” Beierlein said.

He later woke up in the hospital.

“I’ve got about 10 rubber bands and seven screws holding everything together right now,” Beierlein explained. “It was a clean break here, so I’ll forever have two plates there holding my jaw to my chin.”

The bartender says he hasn’t eaten solid food in weeks and has lost more than 20 pounds.

Many of his friends, including Josh Trenkamp, went to visit him in the hospital.

“I mean, he was in pretty bad shape. He hadn’t been cleaned up yet, so his face was covered in blood,” Trenkamp said.

Beierlein was originally sent home from the hospital a few hours later. He says he went back because he was dehydrated and ended up staying in the hospital for five days and had surgery.

“My first fear wasn’t hospital bills, it was being able to pay rent and electric,” Beierlein said. He hasn’t been able to work as a bartender since the attack, he adds.

Meanwhile, the bar community has reportedly come together and helped him pay his bills.

“They really came together and helped me do that and helped me do that for the two months I was going to be out,” he said.

According to Trenkamp, Beierlein’s friends made a GoFundMe to help support him until he can go back to work.

“It just sucks it happened to such a good dude and in our profession, we work in the service industry," Trenkamp said. “Our income is tips. When we can’t work, we aren’t making any money, and he hasn’t worked since New Years.”

Beierlein says he will be able to eat solid food in a few weeks and is looking forward to eating pizza as his first meal.

No arrests have been made in the case.

If you have any information, you’re urged to call Crime Stoppers at 513.352.3040.

Enquirer's Sarah Brookbank contributed to this article. Enquirer media partner Fox19 provided this report.