Halifax bouncer who placed bar patron in chokehold convicted of manslaughter

CITYnews halifax / By Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — A bouncer at a Halifax bar who killed an Ontario man during a scuffle on Christmas Eve in 2022 has been convicted by a judge of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death.

Alexander Pishori Levy, 37, was the head of security at the Halifax Alehouse when there was a minor altercation inside the bar, according to evidence presented in court. And that’s when he asked 31-year-old Ryan Michael Sawyer and his twin brother Kyle to leave.

During a tussle outside the bar just after 1 a.m., Levy placed Ryan Sawyer in a chokehold and the latter suffered a heart attack, the court heard. Later in hospital, Sawyer was taken off life support and pronounced dead.

During Levy’s trial, Kyle Sawyer testified that both he and his brother had consumed about eight to 10 beers during the course of the evening.

Levy testified in his own defence, but Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice James Chipman said he found inconsistencies in what Levy told the court, which undermined his credibility.

In a written ruling, Chipman said the evidence showed that Kyle Sawyer threw the first punch when he and his brother left the bar, which resulted in both men being forced to the ground by a team of security staff.

“Scrutiny of all of the (surveillance and cellphone) videos at this critical juncture causes me to readily conclude that within seconds of jumping on Ryan, Mr. Levy placed his right arm around Ryan’s neck and effected a rear naked chokehold,” Chipman said.

Levy told the court he applied the hold because he was worried Ryan Sawyer would overpower him.

“I decided I would squeeze to try to make him stop,” Levy testified, saying he squeezed for what he believed to be 10 or 15 seconds.

But the judge rejected that assertion, saying the evidence showed Levy squeezed and pulled back on Ryan Sawyer’s neck for about two minutes.

“Despite his training and experience, he continued to apply pressure while Ryan was not moving,” Chipman said in his ruling. “In the face of this, he obviously did not stop to seek medical help or initiate CPR.”

Chipman also found Levy did not use de-escalation techniques even though he had been trained how to use them during his 17 years in the bar security business. And the judge noted it was from use-of-force training that Levy learned about the chokehold.

“I find that at virtually every moment, beginning with his encounter at the door with Kyle, Mr. Levy exhibited no effort to use words to de-escalate the situation,” Chipman said.

“Rather, I make the finding of fact that Mr. Levy’s actions throughout demonstrate that he precipitated the physical violence and deployed the last-resort rear naked chokehold when the manoeuvre was entirely unwarranted.”

One of the bar’s co-owners, Marcel Khoury, testified that he was not aware of the latest security training at the Alehouse. And he said he knew nothing about use-of-force training. The other co-owner, Michel Khoury, told the court much the same thing.

In his decision, Chipman said Levy was guilty of manslaughter because he caused Sawyer’s death by unlawfully placing him in the chokehold.

“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that a reasonable person, in the same circumstances as Mr. Levy, would realize that deploying the chokehold would likely put another person at risk of bodily harm,” Chipman said.

As for the criminal negligence charge, Chipman said the Crown had proven Levy, now 40 years old, showed reckless disregard for Sawyer’s life when he failed to offer him help after the bar patron went limp.

The court heard Sawyer was living in Ajax, Ont., at the time and was home to visit family for the holidays when he and his brother went to a number of bars in Halifax that night.

On Thursday, provincial Labour Minister Jill Balser said that during the most recent legislative session, the provincial government introduced an amendment to the Liquor Control Act aimed at improving safety for establishments with a liquor licence.

But Balser confirmed the regulations needed to implement the new rules won’t be ready until June. The proposed changes include requirements for additional security, criminal record checks for all security staff, and improved staff training for de-escalation and use-of-force techniques.

Balser was responding to calls for change from the Sawyer family, which has spent the past three years pushing the province to do more to regulate bar security staff.

“I very much appreciate the advocacy of the family,” Balser said after a cabinet meeting in Halifax. “The work by the department was very much influenced by what happened to Ryan Sawyer.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2025.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press