DANA POINT – The city’s mayor on Tuesday praised the work of a local bouncer who interceded when actor Charlie Sheen’s evening at local tavern appeared to take a tense turn.

“The event was news before our local police services were notified,” Mayor Carlos Olvera told the Orange County Register. “Kudos go to Hennessey’s (Tavern) and their bouncer who managed to keep everything under control.”

Sheen was hauled out of the bar on Saturday night. But the origin of the incident, reported in national media, including the online tabloid site TMZ on Monday, may not have been quite what it appeared to be, according to eyewitnesses.

Tony Todd, a good friend of Sheen’s, on Tuesday recounted for the Register what led up to the apparent bar drama involving the outspoken sitcom and film actor — known as much as a controversial media magnet as for his acclaimed roles in TV’s popular “Anger Management” and “Two and A Half Men.”

The friends, Todd said, had spent the day fishing for tuna on a 45-foot Viking, about 20 miles offshore from Dana Point, east of Catalina Island. After the day on the water, they headed to town to get a bite at the recommendation of Tony Delmonte, their boat captain, who said Hennessey’s Tavern was a good place to watch a game and grab some food.

So they got a table and ordered turkey burgers. But before the food made it to the table, Sheen was swarmed by folks angling for selfie with the actor.

“We couldn’t even eat,” Todd recalled. “Charlie was holding court. He kept standing up because everyone was coming over to get a photo.”

Hennessey’s manager, Skip Greenhoe confirmed that. “He was obliging with everyone who wanted to take a photo,” Greenhoe said.

Some media reports have suggested that a tense scene later broke out when a woman tried to shoot a video of Sheen. TMZ on Monday reported that that was when Sheen threw the woman’s phone against a wall and the doorman intervened. Greenhoe, whose tavern contracts with an Irvine-based security provider, did not provide the name of the bouncer.

But Donna Delmonte, the fishing boat captain’s wife, said that she was that woman referred to in media reports, and that’s not what happened.

Delmonte said she had never met Sheen and was excited when her husband suggested she come to Hennessey’s and meet him. She and her husband joined Sheen and his friends and watched the parade of selfie requests from other bar patrons most of the night.

“We were walking from the patio to the exit and Charlie asked me if I wanted a photo with him,“ said Donna Delmonte. “My phone was full of photos and I told him I didn’t have any room.”

That’s when Donna Delmonte said Sheen asked to see the phone.

“He chucked it against the wall and said, ‘What a piece of crap,”’ she said “But he was joking. We were still in the hallway and someone started to shine a light at him. He asked the person to stop and that’s when the bouncer grabbed him in a headlock and lifted him off the ground.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, what is he doing!’”

Delmonte said once Sheen was lifted outside, the bouncer put him down. Sheen shook his hand and even asked if he wanted a photo.

When Donna Delmonte saw the TMZ reports the next day, she was shocked. Her phone, she said, was not damaged.

“I had never met him before,“ she said. “He was so nice and courteous to everyone. I can’t believe people took advantage of him like this.“

The Orange County Sheriff Department – which contracts with the city for police services – was never involved.

Still The Dana Point City Council was notified of the incident by text and email from City Manager Doug Chotkevys on Sunday morning.

And that led to the proclamation from the mayor, praising the bouncers’ swift actions as winning ones.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or Twitter: @lagunaini