‘He could overpower me’: Former Halifax bouncer testifies in his own defence at trial

A man charged with manslaughter in Halifax testified in his own defence on Wednesday.

A former Halifax bouncer testified that he believed he could get overpowered while in an altercation with a patron he had just kicked out of the bar.

Alexander Pishori Levy, 40, is accused of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing the death of Ryan Sawyer, 31, on Dec. 24, 2022, outside the now-closed Halifax Alehouse.

It’s alleged he choked Sawyer to death. Levy testified in his own defence on Wednesday.

Levy said while Sawyer was engaged with another bouncer after he and his brother were kicked out, Levy approached and got a hold of Sawyer – with one hand on his collar and the other around the back of his neck.

He was about to loosen his grip around Sawyer to allow his coworker to get his arm free “when Ryan jerked towards me and… we lost our balance, and we started falling to the ground.”

He said they fell backwards, with Sawyer’s back on his chest.

“I then remember being able to get my arm fully around his neck and I grabbed my bicep, but I couldn’t get a grip on it,” so he grabbed fabric from his jacket’s shoulder, Levy testified.

He said Ryan was “throwing fists back and trying to grab at my face or claw at my face with his hand.”

Levy testified he doesn’t believe Sawyer made contact with his face.

“I believe that if he gets in a good hit or if I don’t put him to sleep, that he could overpower me and get up,” Levy told Justice James Chipman. “Then I could get pummeled into the ground, so I decided to squeeze and try to put him to sleep.”

He estimated he squeezed the choke for 10-to-15 seconds, but agreed that was merely a guess.

He testified that as a bouncer, he was trained to put people in restraints and hold them on the ground – rather than punching them – because it “was safer for everybody. It kept people from fighting.”

He said he trained monthly for about five years.

Levy said he started working at The Palace, which later turned into HFX Sports Bar & Grill, in 2002, and spent the next approximately two decades working as a bouncer, primarily at the Alehouse, with intermittent breaks after losing his job twice.

During that time, he said he placed people in a chokehold approximately 100 times. Every time he put someone “to sleep,” the person woke up, he said.

Levy said he kicked the Sawyer brothers – Ryan and Kyle – out of the bar after learning of an altercation that happened inside.

He testified Kyle was threatening him on the way out, saying words like, “Wait until you get outside. You’re gonna get it.”

After getting outside, he said Kyle appeared to threaten him again once outside, but he couldn’t hear what was said.

Levy testified Ryan Sawyer then walked aggressively toward him, so he put his hands up and pushed him back.

Kyle then pushed Levy, who said he lost his balance, and fell backwards.

After getting up, he and another bouncer engaged with Kyle Sawyer, while Gregory White, who testified on Tuesday, restrained Ryan Sawyer.

“I assumed that we were under attack,” he said.

Levy said he kicked Kyle twice and punched him in the side of the head.

He wrestled with Sawyer for some time, before going to call for backup and getting another bouncer to call 911.

“We just needed help,” because of the fight, he testified.

After returning to the street, he said he saw Gregory White engaged with Ryan Sawyer, who was “grabbing Greg, and it looked like he was kind of slamming him into the lineup barrier rail.”

He then went over to take on Ryan Sawyer.

During cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Rob Kennedy suggested Levy could’ve asked for help from multiple other bouncers who were nearby, something he said he didn’t do.

The Crown also suggested Levy was out of breath after the incident – as shown in security footage – because he was “forcefully choking” Sawyer, but Levy said it was from the general altercation with both brothers.

He agreed with the Crown that Ryan Sawyer never struck him during the encounter.

Levy is the only defence witness to testify.

Court is now adjourned until Monday when lawyers on both sides will make closing arguments to Justice James Chipman.

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