SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County prosecutors have dismissed a misdemeanor assault charge against a man with a visual impairment who said he was pushed down the stairs and beaten up by security at a North Side club last fall.
Confirmation of the dismissal comes days after KSAT Investigates raised questions about the Sept. 13 arrest of Michael Roque, 28, outside of Burnhouse Bar.
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Roque, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa and has no vision at night, was originally charged with misdemeanor assault and felony assault on a security guard after an altercation at the club located in the 4500 block of North Loop 1604 West.
Roque said while he and his friend were being removed from the bar his friend stopped on the platform of the outdoor stairwell to try and explain that Roque has a visual impairment.
Roque claims a member of security then pushed him, which caused him to fall down the remaining stairs.
Roque said he was handcuffed, taken to a parking lot and beaten up.
“They grabbed me by either arm. They picked me up, and they slammed me on the floor,” said Roque during an interview with KSAT earlier this year.
Bar management said Roque tumbled down the stairs after taking a swing at a member of its security team and that he landed punches to the faces of multiple bouncers during the physical altercation.
Manager David Amrollah told KSAT Wednesday that security personnel were unaware that Roque had a visual impairment and that he was walking around the bar without assistance before the altercation.
Amrollah said Roque’s criminal history, which includes a 2022 conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, should be taken into account when describing how Roque acted inside the establishment that night.
Amrollah confirmed Wednesday that the bar has since cut ties with the company that provided security personnel during the incident and is now working with another firm.
Prosecutors labeled the misdemeanor assault charge filed against Roque as “extraneous” but wrote that it could be used when determining punishment in the felony assault case, court records show.
Roque is still awaiting indictment in the felony case.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.