A judge has decided an insurance company does not have to defend or indemnify a bar’s operator for the injuries a passerby sustained when a bouncer tackled a would-be patron.

In April 2009, Shawn Morgan, a bouncer at Hop Devil Grill in the East Village, denied admission to Mark Petrisch, who was allegedly drunk. Petrisch purportedly spat at Morgan, who then chased him across the street.