Army veteran sucker punched while closing tab inside Sugar Land bar, victim's girlfriend says

An investigation is underway after a man was sucker punched at a Sugar Land bar after allegedly being called a racial slur.

The Sugar Land Police Department said that the surveillance video Eyewitness News obtained will be used as part of its investigation.

The video shows Derek Russaw II, an Army veteran, standing at the counter at Scholars and Scoundrels Bar and Grill at about 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Russaw's girlfriend, Micaela Sanchez, said he was attempting to close out his tab when a man, who she says is a bar employee, called out to him.

"He said, 'Hey, what's up, n-word,'" Sanchez told ABC13.

Sanchez said Russaw, who was too disoriented to do an interview Thursday, rebuked the man.

"He looked over at him and told him, 'Hey man, you can't go around just saying that, respectfully,'" she said.

There's no audio on the surveillance video, so it's impossible to prove what was said.

But the video shows a man in a blue shirt and ball cap talking with Russaw. When Russaw isn't looking, the other man punches him in the face, sending him backward into a table before he falls to the ground.

Eyewitness News asked Scholars and Scoundrels for a comment, but the bar declined to provide one.

"It makes me upset because of everything that has been through, being an Army veteran and everything, and so it just hurts me to even watch that video. I couldn't watch it when I first saw it," Sanchez said.

Days later, the video is just as jarring, and Russaw's injuries are just as serious.

"We did actually go to the hospital (Wednesday) because he had been feeling very dizzy, and he said that he felt like he was gonna pass out," Sanchez said.

As of Thursday, no charges had been filed in the case. Sugar Land police confirmed a report was filed Wednesday.

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