El Volcan Owner Describes Chaotic August 2023 Fight, Missing Radio and Baton in Court Testimony

Mariano Rendon, who identified himself on the record as a host and owner-operator at El Volcan, testified in Bexar County court that he intervened during a large fight at the club in the early morning hours of Aug. 20, 2023 and that a security radio and baton were later missing from the scene.

On direct examination, Rendon described routine closing procedures at around 1:45 a.m., when staff collect beer buckets and prepare patrons for last call. He said the club typically staffed more security than the minimum required and aimed to be “the safest place where I could take my wife.” Rendon testified that at about 2 a.m. he saw a “mountain of people” on the dance floor and ran to the pile, physically pushing people off and removing a woman who was “hands on” with a security officer. He said he observed the security officer’s hands moving toward the officer’s holster and placed one knee on a man’s stomach to stop movement: “His his hands were touching the holster,” Rendon testified, and he said he acted because he “did not want to have a massacre in my club.”

Rendon said the scene was chaotic and the phone video circulating afterward captured only the final portion of the incident; he told the court the club’s surveillance footage was hazy and obscured by strobe lighting. Defense counsel and Rendon walked through the video frame-by-frame in court; Rendon said the phone video omitted his running up to the pile and the earlier actions in which he pulled people off the security guard.

Rendon also testified that staff discovered a missing two-way radio and a baton after the incident. He said the radio was GPS-enabled; its signal was initially shown on I-10 at Loop 1604 near a tire shop and then pinged in Nixon, Texas, at a location near a church and duplexes. Rendon said he and others went to the Nixon area and spoke with local police but the items were not recovered. He told the court he later heard the missing radio was briefly transmitting again on a subsequent Saturday before it stopped working.

Rendon identified photographs of his injuries taken after the incident and testified they accurately showed scratches and marks he attributed to the woman who repeatedly returned to the pile during the fight; the court admitted defense exhibits documenting his injuries without objection. He also said a porter named Calvin was injured during the incident and missed work with a dislocated shoulder.

On cross-examination, the State questioned Rendon’s handling of evidence and his post-incident statements: Rendon acknowledged he did not provide all club camera footage to police and that the only internal-dance-floor video turned over was a phone recording of the club monitor. He said some staff-owned body-worn cameras existed but he did not know who had them or whether footage from them was turned over. Rendon testified he spoke with a person identified as Tina the following day in an effort to de-escalate the situation and that text messages and call logs documented some follow-up; the State cited those communications in cross.

Rendon testified he had tried to help investigators by turning over the footage he had and by describing the GPS pings; he said he expected detectives to follow up on the additional camera and body-cam sources. The defense later rested its case.

The testimony detailed club security practices, the limits of available surveillance, and the exchange of evidence and communications after the incident. The record shows the defense and the witness disputed how much footage was preserved and provided to investigators and whether additional camera or body-cam footage existed.