Former bouncer at Halifax Alehouse charged with manslaughter in patron’s Christmas Eve death

Police have charged a man in relation to the death of a man outside the Halifax Alehouse last December.

Officers were called to the Brunswick Street drinking establishment at 1:15 a.m. on Dec. 24 and found Ryan Michael Sawyer unconscious on the sidewalk nearby on Prince Street. The 31-year-old Ontario man, who was home in HRM visiting family, was taken to hospital but died later.

Halifax Regional Police said Alexander Pishori Levy, 38, was arrested after he turned himself in Wednesday morning at police headquarters on Gottingen Street and was charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death.

In December, police arrested a suspect after the incident but released him without charges at the time.

Levy, who had been working at the Alehouse as a bouncer, was arraigned on the charges Wednesday afternoon in Halifax provincial court and was granted bail with the Crown’s consent. 

Judge Perry Borden released Levy on a $2,000 bail order and ordered him to live with his surety — his mother — at her home in Halifax. 

Levy is not allowed to work in any bar, nightclub or place whose primary purpose is the sale of alcohol or in “any occupation that would involve the use of force with members of the public.” 

He’s also prohibited from having contact with six potential Crown witnesses, including Sawyer’s twin brother Kyle. 

The Halifax man stood with his hands in his pockets throughout the five-minute court appearance. He told the judge he understood his release conditions and was willing to comply with them. 

Defence lawyer James Giacomantonio, who arranged Levy’s surrender and release, told the court he has yet to receive disclosure of the evidence against his client.   

Prosecutor Steve Degen said he’s been told the disclosure package is 85 to 90 per cent complete, so the Crown should be able to get the material to the defence soon. 

Borden scheduled the case to return to court Sept. 27. 

Levy and another Alehouse employee, Matthew Brenton Day, 33, of Dartmouth, are charged with assaulting a male patron during a different incident at the bar last Oct. 10.  That trial is set for three days next spring in provincial court. 

Police said they are not looking for additional suspects in the Dec. 24 death, but are still asking anyone with information or video from the area who has not talked to police to contact them at 902-490-5020.