Editor's note: The video of the alleged assault contains graphic language and violence.



An online video allegedly showing the beating of a patron inside the locked bathroom of a Southbridge Street strip club last year has led to the arrest of a bouncer at that club.

Easton Byfield, 35, of Thayer Pond Drive, Oxford, was arrested Friday night and charged with assault and battery, kidnapping, unarmed robbery and filing a false crime report. Records show he was arrested at Platinum Premier, 241 Southbridge St. He is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in Worcester Central District Court.

The video, which was on Youtube.com and other Internet sites yesterday, shows a man being punched several times and money allegedly being taken out of his wallet by the strip club employee.

Police received several anonymous tips Thursday referring to the video of the Platinum Premier employee allegedly assaulting a patron, police said in a press release. The information police received included the date of the incident and the suspect's name. Mr. Byfield was then arrested.

After reviewing the video and obtaining information, detectives tracked down the victim, a 25-year-old Worcester resident, police said. Police were told during the investigation that the incident occurred May 25, police said.

The victim told police two bouncers at the club escorted him into the bathroom and accused him of dealing drugs in the club, police said. He said one of the bouncers filmed the incident while the other bouncer assaulted him and robbed him of $300. According to police, the victim said he feared for his safety after the alleged assault and did not report it to police because the bouncers had his name and address.

The video is almost four and a half minutes and apparently takes place in the bathroom at the strip club.

A patron is brought into the bathroom and ordered to empty his pockets by the employee, identified by police as Mr. Byfield. The patron pulls out his wallet, cell phone, cash and other items and places them near the sink.

The employee picks up the phone, goes through it and even tries to make a call as the patron protests, the video shows.

The employee accuses the man of selling something in the club. The reference appears to be to drugs, but the patron was never charged with selling drugs and none was found. During the video, the employee talks to the person shooting the video.

Four different times, the employee punches the patron in the face, knocking him off balance. Stunned, the patron tries to leave after receiving several blows to the head, but the employee stops him and locks the door.

The actions are clear in the video. The alleged victim is told at one point to kneel on the floor and pray to the employee reciting, “Oh great (expletive) brown dude. Oh great (expletive) brown dude.” The man identified as Mr. Byfield is black and the alleged victim is white.

The bouncer tosses some of the man's belongings at him and lets him collect his things, but takes the cash that was sitting on the sink, telling him “this is your sacrifice right here.”

As the man prepares to leave, the employee tells him, “You're lucky I didn't bring you in the basement and (expletive) dismantle you … you're lucky you're able to walk out of here.”

Police said on the same day of the alleged incident, Mr. Byfield called police and reported that he was approached in the bathroom of the club by the victim and was assaulted by the man. Mr. Byfield had an officer file a report, police said. Police have now charged him with filing a false report.

According to police scanner reports last night, Mr. Byfield called police and said he was having problems with harassing telephone calls.