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Bouncer Arrested After Booting Man From Bar for Wearing Shorts, Police Say

 A bouncer at The Ainsworth was arrested after he threw a man out by the neck, police said.
A bouncer at The Ainsworth was arrested after he threw a man out by the neck, police said.
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DNAinfo/Heather Holland

FLATIRON — A bouncer at an upscale Flatiron sports bar was arrested after he grabbed a patron by the neck and violently threw him out — all because the man was wearing shorts, the NYPD said.

The victim, a 26-year-old man from New Jersey, had been inside The Ainsworth for more than six hours when he stepped out to have a cigarette at about 11:40 p.m. on April 12, police said.

When he tried to reenter the 125 W. 26th St. bar, the bouncer, 43-year-old Dennis Sheppard, blocked the door, saying the dress code had changed and no longer allowed shorts, according to police.

The customer — who had an open tab at the bar and had been left unprovoked about his shorts since he entered at 5:30 p.m. — began arguing with the bouncer, police said.

When the man refused to leave, Sheppard grabbed him by the neck and tossed him out onto the street, leaving him with scrapes on his neck from the struggle, police said.

Sheppard was charged with assault as a misdemeanor, authorities said.

Information regarding his attorney was not immediately available.

A manager at the bar declined to comment on the bar's dress code but said that in this case, the customer "was verbally informed" that he had violated it.

The Ainsworth's website does not mention a dress code and there are no signs posted at the bar, but several websites describe it as "business casual."

Other notable crimes that occurred in the 13th Precinct include:

► A man was arrested in IHOP after he yelled at his waitress and threatened a police officer by making a hand gesture that looked like a gun, police said.

At 4:40 a.m. on April 12, a police officer saw Jason Gutierrez, 29, yelling at his waitress, “I’m going to have your job, you f---ing b----,” according to a criminal compaint from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

As the officer was leading Gutierrez out of the restaurant, at 235 E. 14th St. near Second Avenue, Gutierrez shaped his hands like a gun and told the officer “I’m going to own you and this f---ing IHOP,” according to the criminal complaint.

Gutierrez was charged with menacing, disorderly conduct and harassment, but he is denying the menacing charge, according to his attorney, Rebecca Kavanagh.

“He adamantly denies the charges,” said Kavanagh. “There isn’t sufficient evidence for the menacing count. It was a verbal disagreement between a waitress and a customer.”

Gutierrez had ordered food at IHOP but hadn't yet received it when the argument occurred, Kavanagh said.

“When someone is charged with menacing, the person who is menaced is supposed to have immediate fear of death or serious injury,” she continued. “He was making a dumb hand gesture, but he didn’t have a weapon and he wasn’t motioning to his waistband or anything.”

Gutierrez was released on $500 bail and is due back in court on April 17.

► A 35-year-old man was busted after he recorded a video up a 27-year-old woman’s skirt and groped her in Union Square Park, police said.

Police spotted Juan Ruiz placing a sweater with a concealed recording device underneath a woman’s skirt and then standing behind her and touching her butt at 4:45 p.m. on April 12, police said.

Ruiz was charged with unlawful surveillance, sexual abuse and forcible touching, police said.

His lawyer declined to comment. Ruiz is due back in court on April 18.