Joshua Larson has two black eyes, a broken nose and stitches above his left eyebrow.
He says it's the result of a bar fight that broke out during the first minutes of 2016. He also says the whole thing was caused by a misunderstanding involving his girlfriend.
Larson and his girlfriend were at The Alley, a downtown Carlsbad bar, where they rang in the new year with a big crowd of revelers. At some point during the celebration, a conversation with another woman may have angered her male friends. Larson says one of them grabbed him by the shirt with one hand while holding up his other fist.
“I’m like dude, what are you gonna do, hit me?" Larson recalled. Eventually Larson said he'd had enough. He pushed the man away and started to leave. That's when Larson claims he was attacked.
"I don’t know if he swung at me or exactly what happened, but I ended up like just going to the floor, and he ended up on the floor. I was on top of him... and all of the sudden it was just like somebody grabbed me from behind and choked me," said Larson.
Larson, whose voice is still hoarse from being choked, says he passed out. When he came to, Larson claims he was surrounded by men who were kicking him in the face.
"What just bugs me the most is like this whole time, where were the bouncers at?"
Larson told Team 10 that after his attackers got away he flagged down a passing Carlsbad Police officer. The officer called an ambulance and Larson was treated at a local hospital.
Three days later, Larson told Team 10 the police officer hadn't filed his report. After a heated phone call with the officer, Larson said he was assured the paperwork would be completed soon.
Larson is also angry that the bouncers at the bar didn't help him.
“I just feel like it was negligence on their part because they didn't have somebody there to stop the fight.”
Larson believes there is surveillance video of the incident, but claims Carlsbad Police haven't asked to see it.
Team 10 sent a public records request to Carlsbad Police asking for a copy of the report and any surveillance video. Our request was denied.
