Man charged with assaulting bouncers at Laguna Beach bar with a pocketknife

A 23-year-old Santa Ana man was charged Wednesday with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon on allegations that he brandished a pocketknife at bouncers at the Sandpiper bar in Laguna Beach.

Police responded at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday to reports of a suspect being held on the ground by bouncers. The man was kicked out of the bar at 1183 S. Coast Hwy., which caused him to get upset, police said.

Once outside, the man pulled a pocketknife from his shorts and extended the blade while approaching the bouncers, waving the knife in a slashing motion, police said.

The bouncers grabbed a stool and used it to push the man to the ground, removed the knife from his grasp and subdued him until police arrived, said Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jim Cota.

Suspect Gustavo Orozco was taken to a hospital for medical clearance before booking after he appeared to lose consciousness while being detained. Cota said he twice spat at an officer and struck his own head against a parked vehicle.

In addition to the felony charges, Orozco has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of brandishing a weapon and one misdemeanor count of battery on a peace officer or emergency personnel, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Orozco was booked at Orange County Jail with bail set at $25,000, according to jail records.

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