A Halifax man was trying to get back into a Grafton Street bar to get his coat before a bouncer punched him in the face, says an eyewitness.

The incident took place outside Cheers Bar and Grill shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday. Paramedics took Michael Andrew Carpenter, 46, to hospital, where he was listed in serious condition Thursday night.

"He was trying to get back in because he had his jacket in there," said a 22-year-old man who witnessed the fight. "The bouncer wasn’t going to let him in, and he kept trying."

Mr. Carpenter swore at the bouncer, said the eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"I think the bouncer was trying not to lose his temper, but this guy was in his face," the witness said.

"He was very persistent that he was not going to leave without his jacket. . . . And the bouncer said, ‘Yes you are. Go home.’ "

The verbal exchange lasted a few minutes before the pair moved from the bar’s entrance out onto Grafton Street, he said, noting the men did not appear to know each other.

"It just kept escalating. They kept yelling back and forth, and the bouncer took one swing at him, one punch. It hit him in the jaw, and the guy went down like a ton of bricks. It must have knocked him out when he hit him. When the guy hit his head on the pavement, it started bleeding."

Mr. Carpenter didn’t seem to move after he fell, said the witness, a Saint Mary’s University student who snapped photos of the aftermath.

"He was lying there pretty still."

Other bouncers walked out onto the street and the man who threw the punch disappeared, said the witness.

Two cops who had been standing by the Cheers entrance minutes before the altercation took place appeared almost immediately, he said.

"Then an ambulance showed up maybe five or 10 minutes later."

When paramedics put the victim on the stretcher, he seemed to move his leg by himself, said the witness. "He was definitely conscious when they put him in the ambulance."

Cheers had been serving $1 drinks Wednesday night. The discount has come under fire recently by people who say it promotes binge drinking.

"The guy who was trying to get in was pretty drunk and he was swaggering around," said the witness, who had not been drinking.

He appeared to be antagonizing the bouncer before the punch was thrown, said the witness, who doesn’t know either man.

"I’m not sure what the proper procedure is for a bouncer, but I think anybody would probably have done the same thing. I wouldn’t blame the bouncer for hitting him. He hit him hard. And it’s unfortunate that the guy hit his head on the way down."

Both men are tall. But Mr. Carpenter is quite thin, and the bouncer weighs about 240 pounds, said the witness.

"I don’t think he needed to hit him. He wasn’t a physical threat."

The temperature was hovering around -10 C at the time. Mr. Carpenter was not wearing any winter clothing, said the witness.

"It was definitely a night that you should have had a jacket," he said. "They should have gone and got his jacket for him. He could have had his keys in there."

The witness said he’s been going to Cheers regularly for about three years. "I’ve seen lots of people get thrown out. But never with extreme physical force like a punch. It’s usually just like a bear hug and then throw them out the door."

The witness, who had been standing in line to get into Cheers, said he thought it was strange that police didn’t question him or the people he was with at the scene.

"I didn’t see them take any statements. We stayed there until they put the guy in the ambulance. So it was a good 20 or 25 minutes after the incident went down," he said. "It looked pretty serious. The guy was bleeding pretty badly from his head."

Police are asking witnesses to contact investigators at 490-5016.

"Apparently there was a very large lineup," said Const. Jeff Carr. "It’s not a situation where we can detain a very large lineup. And the officers at the time wouldn’t have known that the individual’s injuries were going to end up being life-threatening. They would have spoken with the witnesses who came forward and they did speak with a number of witnesses. But at this point, the injuries are life-threatening, so we’re asking anyone who saw it to come forward."

Police have charged Jarrett Simmons with aggravated assault. The 19-year-old, whom cops arrested at the scene, appeared in Halifax provincial court Thursday, where a judge remanded him into custody until Friday.

Mr. Simmons attended the Royal Military College last year. He played hockey for one season with the Paladins before leaving the Kingston, Ont., school.

"It wasn’t for him, so he left," said his former high school coach, Chris Sutton. "He didn’t flunk out or anything. It wasn’t what he wanted to do. He was going to go back to school."

Before attending military college, Mr. Simmons played both rugby and hockey at Queen Elizabeth High School in Halifax.

"When he participated in sports, he was a team leader. He would do anything for anybody. He was a really nice guy," Mr. Sutton said. "He wasn’t really overly aggressive."

Mr. Simmons did well in high school, Mr. Sutton said.

"He was always polite. He was always respectful."

Mr. Simmons has a bad shoulder that kept popping out of joint, Mr. Sutton said.

"Here’s an example of what kind of a kid he is: he’d be playing rugby, and his shoulder would go out and it was totally out. He’d come back to the sidelines and be white in the face, and I’d put it back in. And you’d see him grimace in pain, then he’d get back out and go play."

Halifax Regional Police don’t keep statistics on how often bouncers get into altercations with patrons, Const. Carr said.

"They’re working for the establishment, so they have the right to ask someone to leave the establishment," he said. "And if the person refuses, then they can use as much force as necessary to remove them, but no more force than necessary."

Police believe $1 drink specials lead to "rowdyism," Const. Carr said.

"With the cheap-drink nights, it often results in patrons becoming overly intoxicated," he said. "And that often results in problems for us in the downtown core."

The Grafton Connor Group owns the Dome, the Attic and Cheers. The interconnected complex of bars is one of the busiest nightspots in Halifax.

Gary Muise, vice-president of operations, refused to discuss the Thursday morning incident.

But he did say the bar doesn’t get a lot of complaints about bouncers.