I can't believe no one started this thread already, so I will! I want to see what everyone has to say about this story. http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=26179

Video clip shows Reilly's bouncer punching man

Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer

MICHIGAN CITY - Caught on video by bystanders, footage of a doorman hitting a patron several times and then kicking him outside Reilly's Sports Bar and Grill last month has drawn pointed criticism from all sides. The patron and his family claim such force was excessive and wouldn't have been employed if he weren't black. Bar employees say the patron provoked the fight.

In the 28-second clip, which first found its way to the internet Tuesday, Eryc D. Calvin, 26, of Michigan City, is seen lying on the ground outside the bar at 1103 Franklin St. near some broken glass with two men standing over him, pushing him into the sidewalk.

The volume on the video is low, but Calvin can be heard saying "I didn't even do nothin'," to which doorman Eric Polomcak replied, "You took a swing at me, b----." A man identified by bar owner Mark Killerman as a manager is seen yelling to another bar patron involved in the altercation, "Marty, let him go!"

Calvin is allowed to stand up, fixing his pants and shirt sleeves. Polomcak then says, "You wanna play?" and punches Calvin in the face four times. After Calvin is on the ground, Polomcak asks, "Now we done?" before kicking him in the upper body.

The video, which was featured on the social networking Web site Myspace until Thursday night, drew more than 3,200 views over the three days it was posted there. It is now featured on YouTube.

"Bottom line, what they did was wrong," said Calvin, who is black. "It's racist. You know if that was me beating up on some white guy, I'd be in jail right now."

Polomcak, who admitted in an interview that he punched Calvin, disagreed.

"I saw it, and I know that video doesn't show everything that happened. He pushed another doorman," said Polomcak, 41. "I don't give a s--- if you're black, white, pink or purple, someone who's been drinking is like a loaded gun. You don't know what they're gonna do."

The incident started inside the bar a little before 1:45 a.m. Sept. 20, but Calvin and Polomcak give differing stories about how Calvin ended up outside. Calvin said he was at the bar with his girlfriend, his brother, his brother's girlfriend and two other women. A young woman was pulling on his sweater and trying to dance with him when a doorman came up to him and asked what he was doing, he said.

"He told me I needed to leave and pushed me out the door," Calvin said. "I wasn't trying to fight or nothing."

Polomcak said another doorman, identified only as "Jason," approached Calvin after the woman told Jason that Calvin, her ex-boyfriend, was trying to "start something" with her.

"Jason pushed him toward the door, but he got belligerent and pushed him back, so I got involved. I told him he needed to go and pushed him outside, and we went to the ground," Polomcak said.

The other patron who went outside with them was just trying to help defuse the situation, Polomcak said, and patted Calvin down for weapons. He did not have any.

When Calvin stood up near the curb, he said he would have walked away had the two men not been in front of him and a car behind him on the street.

"How am I supposed to get out of all y'alls club if you're not letting me leave?" Calvin said in an interview.

But Polomcak said that when he asked Calvin if he wanted to "play," Calvin replied, "Yeah, [expletive], we're gonna go." However, that's not audible on the video.

"I'm notorious for keeping my temper, but when he said that I wasn't going to wait to see what he was going to do next," Polomcak said. "I didn't want to get hit ... I could have held back from the knee, but I think everything else was justified."

Calvin's girlfriend, Britney Harmon, 21, Michigan City, said she saw Calvin talking to the woman and went to dance. The next thing she knew, she said, he was pushed outside.

"The bouncers wouldn't let us outside to see what was going on," Harmon said. "They were blocking the doors."

None of his friends saw what happened, Harmon said. Any time there is a fight outside, the doors are blocked to make sure no one else gets involved, Polomcak said. But the video clearly shows a woman was allowed outside during the incident to speak to the other patron who was involved.

Calvin's lip was cut during the fight, he said, and he said he still has severe headaches. He called police after he left the bar to make a report, but he said he didn't get the impression they would do anything about it. In a police report Calvin filed Thursday, he said he was unaware he would have to go to the police station to make a report for battery. The report was made after he first talked to The News-Dispatch about the incident.

Calvin's family has hired attorney Greg Sarkisian of Portage in hopes of pursuing action against the bar.

Bar owner Killerman said he was sure his staff handled the situation appropriately.

"We don't want this place to be like the old Sullivan's (the bar's previous name)," Killerman said. "We don't want trouble here."

Why should I care what goes on at night clubs? I don't patronize those types of establishments for the simple fact that they are filled with people who are either looking to start trouble or who don't have the good sense to avoid trouble when it comes their way. I hate to see this Jerry Springer-ish garbage on the front page of the New-Dispatch. It belongs in the police briefs and thats it.

Yup, I tend to agree with the other poster. One of the many reasons I don't go out in M.C. What's the saying? "Nothing good happens after midnight."


Like any train wreck though, I had to take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnzPfg47GFY

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=26194

It wouldn't have even made the police briefs if someone hadn't taken a video, then posted it on the Internet. Anyway, the whole point isn't about the "Jerry Springer" aspect of what went on, or what goes on at night clubs in general. The point is the fact that the video was made, and that claims of excessive force and racism came from the incident.

"We don't want this place to be like the old Sullivan's (the bar's previous name)," Killerman said. "We don't want trouble here."
[/quote]


Sorry...you are the owner of just another dive bar in MC. Welcome to reality.

I've watched Road House about 10 times (stop laughing or I'll hit you with a pool cue) and never once did I see a reporter interviewing anyone after the big fight scenes. Maybe if Dalton had written a letter to the Anvil Chorus, all that mayhem could have been avoided.

MY UNDERSTANDING IS A CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN LAUNCHED INTO THE ENTIRE INCIDENT.

ALSO AS I RECALL EVERY ONE IN ROAD HOUSE WAS WHITE. THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF LAWLESSNESS IN THAT SMALL TOWN . THE BOUNCER APPEARS TO HAVE SOME EXTRA RAGE TOWARDS THIS GUY.

A first I thought that bleach blonde in blue was the Nature Boy Ric Flair, then I froze the video at :18 and realized it was Major Hot Lips Houlihan from M*A*S*H. That dumb a$$ that just stood there, LOL

Who's the guy in the white baseball cap turned backwards idenified as "Marty"? Corley perhaps?

Once again, a black person gets in trouble and screams "It's racist!" How knee-jerk is that? MC's very own Kanye West.

Regarding comments about going out to clubs in MC, I go out every time I'm home. I always have a great time and meet a lot of friends. Are there jerks there? Sure - but come on - there are jerks at the mall. It all depends on how you like to spend your time, of course - but I always quite enjoy myself.

My understanding is you can't find your caps lock button.

Another po$$ibility i$ that $omeone $ees an opportunity here.

Huh?

I LIKE EVERYTHING BIGGER!!!! THAT'S WHY I USED CAP LOCKS. SOME PEOPLE HAVE BLINDERS ON AND NEVER THINK RACE EVER HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING. I GUARANTEE IF THAT HAD BEEN THREE BLACK BOUNCERS PUNCHING AND KICKING A YOUNG WHITE MAN AN ARREST WOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE. ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE'S VIDEO EVIDENCE OF AN ASSAULT. CLEARLY THE BOUNCERS WERE NOT DEFENDING THEMSELVES. RACISM IS RAMPANT IN MICHIGAN CITY.

Using all caps is the internet equivalent of shouting. It diminishes your message because it's rude.

The black person in the video is clearly drunk. The beating does look excessive - but I'm sure goons like those guys would beat up another white guy with just as much obvious joy.

Trying to make it about race is weak.

I CANT HEAR YOU YOUR PRINT IS TOO small.

Evidently, you can.

I don't know what to think of the situation. Obviously the violence at the end is pretty bad, as are the remarks made to the guy, but I am really curious as to what exactly happened inside. For sure the second time he went after him outside was way too much.

Agreeance. As the person in question stood up - or tried to stand up - they should have let him go. Hardly racist - more like hiring mindless muscle boys as bouncers.

DO YOU BELIEVE RACISM EXISTS ?

Stop shouting and I'll answer you.

OK SIR.

Here's a hint - if you want to communicate in this forum muster a little decorum. Otherwise people will just ignore you.

I do believe racism exists for sure. It does exist right here in City, I have no doubt of that. I am not sure to what extent, or that it is in any sort of organized form at all here. My experience is that this stuff usually boils down to some morons, doing stupid things. I do believe that a white man beating up a black man, or vice versa, does not necessarily make it a racist action. There is a very good chance that this bouncer is just someone who is out of control. Does the bouncer do this often? Are there a string of people who have been beat up at this bar? Are they mostly one race? Is the bar clientele mostly one race?

I'd really love to hear from some people who took in this event personally, and/or some people who frequent this place since it changed hands.

I knew you didnt want too answer . im sorry I dont live with proper computer etiquette ill try better. Tim

Thanks southsider

Was that so hard?

To answer your question yes, of course racism exists. As long as there's a KKK racism will continue to exist. As long as there's a Miss Black America Pageant racism will continue to exist. And the possibility that this particular beating was racially motivated also exists. But to just call it racist because it's white guys beating up a black guy is stupid. From the sheer glee these goons seem to have as they beat this guy up it far more seems like they'd have the same fun beating my ass if I got out of line in their bar.

I took phone calls for three days from just about everyone and their brother. Really all I got out of it was what you saw in the paper.

And the other guy is not Marty Corley. I've heard that a lot, though. Weird.

I stand corrected. I looked up Eric Polomcak (not a very common name) on anywho.com the only listing shows in the area shows Dowagiac, MI.

http://whitepages.anywho.com/results.php?R...amp;qn=Polomcak

Thanks Tim truth is I dont like typing lol hope we find out the truth.

Make no mistake - if in fact this beating was racially motivated then I agree it's very wrong. It's people who call ANY altercation between blacks and whites racist that I find jaw-droppingly stupid.

I haven't seen the video--it appears to have been deleted from myspace, and I can't find it on Youtube, so I can't really comment on the case. But I hope we can all agree that assaulting someone on a public sidewalk is outrageous, regardless of what time of day or night the victim happens to be out. (Not saying that's what happened here, but if it did, it's certainly worthy of condemnation). I don't get this idea that if you're out late, it means it's okay for someone to attack you.

I went to Reilly's one time with my parents. Late afternoon, not at night. There's no way I would ever go back. The place was stylishly appointed, but the service and food were both terrible. There were only two tables occupied there and six employees, but service was glacier-slow and really brusque and unfriendly. We didn't get the food we ordered. After we got that corrected, it took forever to get someone's attention to get silverware (the employees were all busy drinking at the bar, and when I walked up, they ignored me). They had a great big-screen TV, but it was tuned to Discovery Health and they wouldn't change the channel, even when we asked. So I had a giant broadcast of open heart surgery burned into my brain while I was trying to eat. Yum yum.

They're also pretty bad neighbors. They have music blasting long after midnight on weeknights--you can hear it from blocks away. I feel sorry for all the families with young children who live near there; it must be impossible to get the kids to sleep.

I keep hoping they'll go out of business, but no such luck so far. Maybe this will do the trick. Hope springs eternal.

Someone posted the link to the You Tube video earlier in this thread

http://www.citybythelake.org/forums/index....ost&p=23986

ChickenCityRoller posted the link earlier in this thread. I've watched it - the bouncers do seem totally out of line. Your story of your visit, though, is pretty shocking. Doesn't sound like this place will be around very long.

I don't know if it was or not. I can tell you that there are certain establishments in the past that definately discriminated against the young black men. I had several young men contact me about issues with two places. I told them they were stupid for continuing to go there. Also, my brother was visting me from college with a buddy of his. He's a big dude who played college football and he was asked to leave and they could not tell him why, except you have to get out. I know these are isolated instances but these were all from the same two places.

I also had several calls and experienced problems with the Chinese buffet place by the old Walmart. My family politely finished dinner and I expressed my disgust with the service and how they treated us and left my name and number. I also advised them that I would make sure to tell friends and family not to patronize them again since we were not welcome. I won't go into details but they were very blatant in their service to me and my daughters. I never heard anything but I saw something in the Anvil Chorus from another family a few weeks after our incident.

Again, this happens in all cutlures and races. Just stop patronizing these businesses.

THat's disgusting. It amazes me that here it's almost 2010 and this late-50's mentality still exists.

We were just in there last week. I will have to keep that in mind. I won't go to the Fortune House because of the people they got killed in the house fire and the way they were treating them essentially like slaves, and forcing them to work in their store.

Thanks for the review.

It did not seem like anyone inside the bar was not trying to "defuse" anything, they cheered when Calvin got punched then cheered when he gotthe knee.

You might be right. But I bet if you look hard enough there is at least one token black guy in cowboy hat. I think there should be a website like Mr. Skin .com that, instead of documenting every second of nudity in mainstream films, documents every token black man in otherwise all white movies. We could call it Mr. Black Skin .com. I am looking for investors. Who is in?

yea incidents like this is why i stopped going to bars when i was 21. a bunch of drunk guys with a chip on their shoulder trying to impress some girl passed around 100 times with some macho behavior isn't my kind of thing. not to say that that is what happened here but that is the general feel i ever got when i used to go. nothing good comes of these places and the people who disagree with that will get pissy and thats cause they probably live it. and of course racism exists. wtf. but if you look around both sides are guilty. believe me. i went to M.C. schools. damn near every black person at Barker hated me for being white. Black people get away with being racist though. i.e. BET, Miss Black America, Jet magazine, so on and so forth. Anyone wanna start a WET channel with me? (White entertainment television) All of a sudden I'm racist and the NAACP comes crashing down on me. Which that bouncer may want to start thinking about that himself cause now I bet about every black person in town will be crashing down on him and Reilly's now. all im sayin is with stuff like this people will talk race being an issue. lookin at that video its my opinion that the bouncer should be arrested for that barrage of punches there at the end. it didn't look necessary



and i wont be surprised if this reply of mine is deleted and im kicked off but for the record i dont care. its not surprising that people can't handle the truth.

Here's what I know or can add: I know two people (my brother included) that know Eryc very well. My brother went to school with him since kindergarten. Both of them were stunned that he'd be involved in anything like that. They say he's the most mellow guy you'd ever want to meet, whether he's been drinking or not. That doesn't mean nothing happened inside the bar, but people that know him were really stunned that he would do anything to illicit that kind of reaction.

And if you really don't think there are establishments right here in our very own town -- without naming any names -- that treat minorities differently then you're out of the loop or have your head in the sand. It's an unfortunate reality.

... and regardless, whether something happened inside the bar or not, what went on at the end of that tape is not acceptable. I don't know that there's any other way to look at it. The situation (if there was one) was handled and that last attack appeared to be unprovoked. He had already been subdued at that point and the last bit of violence is criminal. Period.

Group hug!



I don't buy the "nothing good comes of these places" line - though that may be your experience. I played the bars of MC for years - I hit the bars every time I'm home. It's always a nice social gathering.

"though it may be your experience".... exactly. so what you sayin now? glad its all sunshine and roses for you in the bars lol u can keep it.

here im gonna do a smiley face too that was cute.

Wow. Darwin was right.

im not gonna play this game of tossing insults behind a computer screen. find someone else. i see im already the 2nd one you have come after. 1st guy you looked like you were upset that he used Caps. dude come on. you just feeling confrontational or what.

Easy, guys...This is already a sensitive enough topic without you two starting after one another.

watch your grammar, Caps and sentence structure. you may offend Tim. you will automatically be labeled a moron and dismissed because you don't give a shit about your typing on this thread.

Ok. First, we don't censor here. This is a free speech message board. If a person posts something we feel is out of line, we take it behind the scenes and ask that person to modify their post on their own. If they refuse then, and only then, we will modify it and make a post that we did and why. However, you really have to be out of line. Such as making an accusation against a person you have named and cannot back up with proof.

Second, Tim is our token antagonizer. He does it in fun and that's just the way he is. Most people don't take the bait, but for those of you who do, don't let it bother you. Seriously. Tim knows when to back off, most of the time. And when he doesn't..... well, he's got enough PM's from us to know when he's been out of line.

Now, back to the topic....
I, too, am tired of people pulling the race card when they feel they've been slighted. However, from what I'm hearing about this place, I believe Mr. Calvin may possibly have a serious claim. Other black people have made similar comments about this place and I know of at least one other black person who was asked to leave for no apparent reason. They were told they were violating the dress code, but according to what was posted they were not. The comment about Gary Thugs pretty much summed it up since most of the people who come here from Gary are black. That is stereotyping in my book. I know a few people from Gary who are not thugs and what I read was, "Those black folks from Gary who do nothing but cause trouble."