A University of South Carolina student wants action after he says he was viciously attacked outside a Five Points bar St. Patrick’s Day weekend. According to a Columbia police report, Ryan Chisolm says he was making sure his friend wasn’t involved in a fist fight when he was pushed outside of the bar by security.
Chisolm, a 21-year-old IT major, says that’s the last thing he remembers before being slammed to the ground. Video of the incident, which surfaced online, help tell the story.
Two 10-second Snapchat clips show Chisolm being placed in a chokehold by a man wearing a white blazer with green clovers. The man kept the chokehold until Chisolm passed out, then tossed him to ground.
“It’s not a good feeling, I lost air. I thought I died,” Chisolm said. “When I woke up I didn’t know I hit the ground. I was just bleeding. Blood all over me. It’s hard to watch. I get emotional and nobody helped.”
Chisolm said he had never seen the man who attacked him until he regained consciousness at the hospital. That stranger, though, is now a part of his life every day as he is reminded of the painful injuries he now has to deal with.
“All my teeth when it hit the concrete, it just got pushed up in my gums. It looks like my teeth aren’t there but they’re pushed up in my gums. One tooth is actually fractured and I have to get that removed,” Chisolm said. “I fractured my jaw, that night in the hospital, I got about 13 to 14 stitches inside of my mouth, outside of my jaw, under my chin.”
Chisolm is scheduled to graduate in December, but he says the incident has put his school career on the line.
“I’m on pain medicine, sometimes I get a little droopy. I can’t stay up to do my work. I can’t drive while on the medicine,” he said.
Columbia Police are investigating the incident. The video has been turned over to them. A suspect has not yet been named or identified. Chisolm says he is not backing down and has hired Orangeburg attorney and state Rep. Justin Bamberg.
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