Two men who assaulted a bouncer at Johnny’s Restaurant and Bar in Ozone Park on Saturday morning will not face manslaughter charges after his death.
The incident took place inside the West Indian restaurant and bar located at 107-09 Rockaway Blvd.
Deonarine Deoraj, 31, of Richmond Hill, and Harrydatt Nandalall, 48, of Ozone Park were originally charged with manslaughter for killing 43-year-old Elsworth “Dale” Reid.
Reid was trying to break up a fight inside the bar when several patrons started beating him. Though the two men were initially charged with manslaughter, prosecutors on Monday filed misdemeanor riot and attempted assault charges.
According to the criminal complaint, Nandalall and Reid began to fight at about 1:15 a.m. when a witness intervened and struck Nandalall twice. The unidentified witness then attempted to run into the bathroom when multiple customers hit the witness, who suffered from a bloody nose.
Reid tried to break up the fight when Nandalall and Deoraj each struck Reid once on his head, causing him to fall on the ground. Once he fell, an unidentified male and female continued to hit Reid even after he was seen gasping for air, police said.
The criminal complaint noted that a witness saw the man and woman hitting Reid approximately 10 times in the lower half of his body.
“As he fell to the ground, he was assaulted by multiple people who were at [Johnny’s Restaurant and Bar],” a spokesperson for the NYPD said. The guard subsequently went into cardiac arrest, according to police.
Nandalall and Deoraj were arraigned in Queens Criminal Court yesterday. Bail was set at $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash each.
Both defendants are scheduled to appear in court on March 18.
