Police plan charges against bouncers at NJ club owned by Jay Z after beating is taped

Taped beating outside NJ club probed by police

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Police plan to file charges against several bouncers who were videotaped beating two men outside a nightclub co-owned by hip-hop star Jay Z.

A video was shot by a disc jockey who had just finished performing early Saturday inside the 40/40 Club and shows about nine security guards kicking and punching two men in a parking lot.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” one of them yells. “I didn’t do nothing!”

The video shows one of the two men being kicked while he was lying on the ground, and also shows as many as six bouncers swarming and punching the other man, Tyrell Durant, 26, of Neptune.

“We came down to Atlantic City to have a good time, not to have the crap beat out of us,” Durant told The Associated Press on Monday. “We did not do anything to deserve this.”

Durant and his friend, Leonard Clark, have been charged with disorderly conduct.

Durant said he and Clark, 25, also of Neptune, were at 40/40 to celebrate Clark’s birthday. Clark was at the bar, having just ordered a $15 plate of chicken, when a bouncer who had just ejected someone else from the club told him to move, Durant said.

Clark protested, saying he was waiting for his food, and a bouncer began escorting him from the club, Durant said.

Durant said he followed Clark, asking why he was being ejected. He said security grabbed him and led the two of them down a steep staircase where Durant felt like he was about to fall and grabbed the closest person to him to keep his balance.

The club manager told police someone ripped his collar during the altercation inside the club, and police said Durant punched a security guard in the face.

The video was shot and posted to YouTube by a Staten Island, N.Y., disc jockey who calls himself DJ Zeke. It starts when security and the two patrons are outside the club in a parking lot.

Durant denied he or Clark did anything wrong, but both were charged with disorderly conduct and released pending a Dec. 11 court date. An ambulance was called for Durant, who said he was sprayed in the face by a fire extinguisher. He was treated at the scene.

Durant also said bouncers stole his watch and some cash from him.

A woman who answered the phone at the club Monday referred inquiries to a publicist who did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Jay Z was not present when the encounter took place, police said.

Detective Thomas Holton said police are reviewing the video to try to identify the bouncers who would face charges stemming from the assaults on Durant and Clark.

DJ Zeke, who declined to give his real name, said he did not see either of the men inside the club. He said he was walking behind the club when he saw what was happening and began filming.

“I was disgusted by it,” he told the AP. “As a DJ, you see fights all the time. But to see bouncers lose it like this — they just lost it.”

On the Net:

YouTube video: tinyurl.com/ybv7pb6