While out with friends at Siné Irish Pub last year, Aylla DeSantiago tried to go out to the bar’s back patio. After a dispute with the bouncer working the door, she ended her night at the hospital.

Images filed in court show DeSantiago sprawled on the floor and the bouncer who allegedly knocked her out holding a stun gun as a crowd looked on, according to DeSantiago’s account of what happened in the early morning hours of Sept. 14.

The bouncer, Kevin Angelo Bello of Henrico County, has now been indicted on a felony malicious wounding charge. Siné is facing a $3 million civil lawsuit from DeSantiago, who says the Shockoe Slip restaurant put her in danger by letting a man with a criminal record and “propensity for violence” work security.

According to the civil lawsuit filed Feb. 3, DeSantiago claims Bello “slammed a glass door” in her face multiple times and “repeatedly” punched her in the head and stomach, leaving her unconscious. She initially took out a misdemeanor assault charge. In early January, Richmond prosecutors upped the case to a felony.

The encounter left DeSantiago with “a concussion, traumatic brain injury, broken teeth, bruises and abrasions,” according to the court filing, which names both Siné and Bello as defendants.

The suit claims Siné is at fault for either ignoring or failing to check Bello’s record while putting him in a position to use force against customers.

According to Bello’s bail paperwork, he has a criminal history in New Jersey involving charges for burglary, robbery, resisting arrest, threats, assault, and weapon possession. It’s not clear when those offenses occurred, but court records indicate most were in 2009.

David Smith, a defense lawyer representing Bello in the criminal case, declined to comment. Bello is set to appear in court on March 2.

When The Richmonder called Siné for this article, a manager refused to discuss the matter and told a reporter not to call again. The pub has not yet filed a response in court.

In a statement provided by her lawyers, DeSantiago called the situation “a terrible experience.”

"In addition to dealing with my injuries, I am now having to navigate the legal process in both the criminal and civil systems,” DeSantiago said. “I truly appreciate all the well-wishes and support that I have received from friends and the community at large, and I hope that justice is served in this situation. I will do everything in my power to ensure that it is."

DeSantiago is being represented by a team of lawyers from the Gentry Locke and Newton & Sullivan law firms.

While at Siné, DeSantiago “had consumed some alcohol, but was not intoxicated,” the lawsuit says. Another pub patron bumped into her, according to the suit, spilling a drink on her shirt.

When DeSantiago tried to go to the patio to “clean up and regroup with her friends,” the suit says, Bello refused to let her pass and shut the door on her, “striking her in the face.”

“A verbal discussion ensued, but Ms. DeSantiago did not say anything threatening or act physically aggressive toward Mr. Bello in any way,” the suit says.

When DeSantiago tried to go out a second time, Bello would not let her exit and shut the door on her again, according to the suit.

DeSantiago claims she was then bumped or pushed by another person, “causing her to lose her balance and stumble forward.”

“Mr. Bello immediately struck Ms. DeSantiago in the face and stomach in rapid succession, punching her at least five times,” the suit says. “Ms. DeSantiago collapsed, unconscious on the floor of the back patio by the entrance into the pub.”

When other patrons tried to help DeSantiago, the suit claims, Bello “brandished a stun gun” and yelled, “Do you want some of this?”

Members of the Royal Dutch Navy, including a medic, were also at the pub that night and came to DeSantiago’s aid, according to court documents. They carried her outside and stayed with her until the police arrived.

The Richmond Police Department said officers got to Siné around 3:17 a.m. When they arrived, DeSantiago told them she had been assaulted by a staff member. She was later taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, according to police.

“Officers conducted an investigation and determined the incident to be a misdemeanor simple assault that did not occur in their presence,” said RPD spokesman James Mercante. “The victim was advised of the option to seek a warrant for simple assault through the magistrate’s office.”

The initial misdemeanor charge against Bello was dropped, but the city prosecutor’s office confirmed the more serious felony charge involves the same incident at Siné.

DeSantiago’s civil lawsuit accuses both Siné and Bello of being liable for negligence, assault and battery. She’s seeking $2 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

The suit anticipates Siné might argue Bello was an outside contractor and not the pub’s own employee. The court filing insists the restaurant also had a responsibility to choose a “competent and careful” security contractor.

“Mr. Bello’s extensive criminal history made it subjectively foreseeable, from Siné’s perspective, that Mr. Bello posed a threat of injury to its patrons while working security for its restaurant,” the suit says.

The suit claims the restaurant has security cameras that could have captured the incident on video, but accuses Siné of disabling those cameras. The still images in the court filing are from a video showing “the aftermath,” the suit says.

A few months after the incident at Siné, Bello was charged with misdemeanor assault in a separate case involving a woman who described him as her boyfriend. In that case, which is pending in Henrico, the woman accused Bello of attacking her on Jan. 6 during a dispute at his home.

In the Henrico complaint, the woman noted that Bello already had a pending charge “for assaulting a female at the club.”

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org