Anti-masker breaks bartender’s nose with sucker punch

A patron sucker-punched a California bartender who asked him to put on a face mask.

Tony Aversa suffered a badly broken nose in the Sept. 5 attack at 710 Beach Club in Pacific Beach, after he approached three men and asked them to put on face coverings to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, reported KGTV-TV.

"I just asked them to please put on a mask and I'll happily help you with whatever you need," Aversa said. "The guy just refused and continued to argue blatantly within inches of my face with no mask on."

Another bartender came over and one of the men shoved her, Aversa said, so he put himself between the man and his co-worker -- but another man ran up and punched him.

"He was walking away at the time and came running back down the sidewalk and blind-sided me with a punch," Aversa said. "Immediately, you could tell my nose was broken, I was gushing blood and I knew immediately what had happened, I kind of spun around and asked one of my employees to call the cops."

An officer found one of the men who'd been in the group, but the assailant -- described as a Pacific Islander who's about 6'2 and 260 pounds -- remains at large.

Aversa must undergo surgery to correct a collapsed nostril and fractured sinus cavity, and he said his teeth were bruised by the punch.

"I didn't sign up for this job to be a mask babysitter," he said. "That's not what any of us want to do but it is what we have to do to stay in business."