An Orlando bar employee has been taken into custody after allegedly stabbing a patron ten times during an argument over a bar tab last weekend.
What led to the stabbing?
According to an official Orange County arrest affidavit, at about 5:36 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31, a woman flagged down an officer near the intersection of North Mills Avenue and Canton Street to report a stabbing.
The woman, who had blood on her hands, stated that she was standing near some trash behind Grumpy’s Underground when she overheard two individuals fighting. She claimed she did not physically witness the incident but attempted to instruct the participants verbally to stop.
The woman reported that a man walked past her, mentioned a stabbing, and then proceeded northward on Canton Street. The woman stated that she was walking around Grumpy’s Underground when she spotted blood on both of her hands, which she claimed was caused by the individual bumping into her.
As the woman was speaking with the officer, the bar’s owner approached and stated, “Saucy stabbed someone, and it’s not OK.”
According to the arrest complaint, 30-year-old Jason Rosario got into a verbal fight with guests while serving them inside the bar. The discussion became heated, and the two went outside to the alley behind the pub and began fighting. According to the victim, the two were fighting until Rosario pulled out a knife and stabbed him ten times in the face and back of the head.
According to the proprietor, the victim walked back inside the pub with many stab wounds, but Rosario did not return.
FOX 35 Orlando met with the bar’s owner, Amanda Fields, who described what she observed that night.
“[Rosario] got into an argument about a tab. The guy with the tab left. He left the building, he went home, but his best friend stayed behind and just argued with the two, kept arguing. I kicked everybody out. I thought everybody had left for the night and about an hour went by, maybe a half an hour to an hour and the next thing I know somebody came in injured,” Field said.
According to Fields, Rosario was not a paid employee but had trained with them multiple times. However, she stated that she saw him come in as a patron that night, and because they were so busy, she requested him to assist with customer service.
“He worked in maybe six months, like twice, but he was never hired on because he wasn’t a good fit to begin with. But he never did anything violent or anything. He just, not a big smile or anything,” Fields explained. “I cooperated fully and I wanted him put in jail because it’s just not okay.”
Investigators were eventually able to find Rosario. He was detained and faces attempted second-degree murder charges.