No charges for patron after beer thrown at comedian, Point Pleasant Beach police say

POINT PLEASANT BEACH - Borough police did not charge a man who threw a beer Saturday at a comedian at the Uncle Vinnie's Comedy Club and disrupted a stand-up performance.

The man, who was not identified, threw a beer at Ariel Elias, a New York City comedian originally from Kentucky, after an exchange between the comedian and the man's companion turned toward presidential politics.

"It's really disappointing if he (the beer thrower) faces no legal consequences," Elias said in a private Twitter message to an Asbury Park Press reporter. "But ultimately, he has to live with himself, and that's probably punishment enough."

The beer struck the wall behind Elias, but the performer did not appear injured in a video of the incident that circulated on Twitter. By Wednesday morning, the video had been viewed more than 5.4 million times.

Elias is then seen picking up the thrown beer and drinking it to audience applause.

Elias told Newsweek she left pressing charges up to the nightclub owner. Uncle Vinnie's owner Dino Ibelli said he received the beer thrower's name from his companions and met with police about the incident.

The video has brought national attention to Elias and the Point Pleasant Beach community.

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel showed interest in booking Elias through a Twitter exchange between the two on Sunday.

Other celebrities — comedian Jim Gaffigan, actor Elijah Wood and comedian Patton Oswalt — tweeted their support for Elias as well.

On Tuesday, Point Pleasant Beach police said they also had been in touch with Elias, but said she could not see who threw the beer because of the stage lights and declined to sign a complaint.

She told Newsweek she would not be pressing charges.

"In order to do that," she told Newsweek, "I would have to return to Point Pleasant Beach, and I'm not doing that unless someone pays me to."

She is scheduled to perform again at Uncle Vinnie's in April, according to Patch.

The comedian has responded to her ballooning fame with humor.

"This experience has really taught me to trust my gut, and to fill that gut with beer," she tweeted on Monday.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: No charges for beer thrown at comedian in Point Pleasant Beach NJ