Police hunt British man after father-of-two bouncer is killed at TOWIE star’s Spanish restaurant

Spanish police are hunting a British man after a doorman was killed while trying to break up a fight at former TOWIE star Elliot Wright’s restaurant. 

Father-of-two Jose Rafael Pisano Pardo, 55, died in hospital on Sunday evening after suffering life-threatening injuries when he intervened in a fight at Olivia’s La Cala restaurant in Marbella.

Mr Pardo, 55, a bodybuilder from Venezuela, was knocked unconscious on Saturday night and evacuated in a serious condition to a hospital in Málaga, Spain, where he was admitted to intensive care. 

Well-placed sources said he had been declared brain dead and had a life support machine switched off after hitting the back of his head as he crashed to the ground during attempts to eject one of the men involved in the fracas. 

Now, insiders confirmed police were hunting a British man amid unconfirmed reports that Mr Pardo had been pushed or punched in the altercation before losing his balance. 

Mr Wright has temporarily closed his restaurant in the resort of La Cala de Mijas for two days following Mr Pardo’s death. The reality TV personality said his ‘heart was broken’ and his staff had ‘lost a much loved and valued member of our team’. 

Elliott Wright has temporarily closed his restaurant in the resort of La Cala de Mijas for two days following Mr Pardo’s death. The former TOWIE star is pictured at Olivia’s La Cala

Elliott Wright shut his Olivia’s La Cala restaurant (pictured) for two days as police continued to probe the Saturday night tragedy

Mr Pardo was a father of two grown-up children believed to be a previous relationship. He married Romina Acuna, a personal trainer and gym instructor in Las Vegas, in November last year. 

Acuna described her new fitness fanatic husband as the ‘love of my life’ in an emotional social media post after they wed and posed for photos before getting into a white stretch Limousine.

She moved to Mijas on the Costa del Sol at the start of 2021 from her previous base in Barcelona and the couple enjoyed a holiday together in Chile before getting married.

A police investigation into Mr Pardo’s death, led by the Civil Guard in Malaga, is ongoing but detectives confirmed on Monday evening no arrests have yet been made.

Officers took away CCTV footage from Mr Wright’s eatery, which was gutted in an arson attack two years ago, on Sunday after interviewing staff.

The results of a post-mortem believed to have taken place on Monday have not been revealed and are not expected to be officially made public but instead sent to an investigating judge heading an ongoing judicial probe into Mr Pardo’s death.

Local reports say the doorman hit his head on the corner of a table as he tried to intervene in a fracas.

But well-placed sources said he hit the back of his head directly on the floor and not a table, saying he went down as he tried to eject one of the unruly customers.

Jose Rafael Pisano Pardo was knocked unconscious and evacuated in a serious condition to a hospital in Málaga, Spain where he was admitted to intensive care. He died on Sunday after failing to recover from his injuries

Unconfirmed local reports have pointed to the doorman (pictured) receiving a punch as he tried to intervene in the fight which led to him hitting his head on the corner of a table as he fell and lost his balance

The restaurant released a statement on Instagram today paying tribute to Mr Pardo

One said: ‘The local reports talk of a group of people fighting but it was between two people.

‘The doorman went down as he tried to eject one of the two men.’

Another added: ‘Elliott had a great relationship with the dead guy and is devastated at what’s happened.

‘He had worked for him for two years.

‘There was an argument between two people in the restaurant and he’s fallen on the floor and hit his head after intervening.

‘It looks like he slipped after one of the guys he was kicking out pushed or punched him but that’s something the police are still investigating.

‘He landed awkward and banged his head as he fell backwards.

‘The ambulance took about 45 minutes to an hour to come and he was rushed to hospital.

Mr Pardo had been working as a doorman at Olivia’s La Cala for the past two years.

‘He had swelling on the brain and brain damage because of a lack of oxygen and they said at the hospital he was brain dead.

‘They switched the machines off on Sunday.

‘Earlier the same day police took all the camera footage away and took down statements from the staff.’

Olivia’s La Cala went up in flames in the early hours of April 26 2021 in an arson attack which is still being investigated and is never believed to have led to any arrests. Pictured: The scene of the fire in 2021 

In a statement released on Monday, Olivia’s La Cala said following Mr Pardo’s death: ‘This weekend we lost a much loved and valued member of our team. 

‘Our hearts are broken and we have closed the restaurant today and tomorrow out of respect.

‘We are supporting our staff and the family whilst awaiting news of further investigations.’

Olivia’s La Cala went up in flames in the early hours of April 26 2021 in an arson attack which is still being investigated and is never believed to have led to any arrests.

The restaurant, which opened in August 2015, had to close so it could be rebuilt.

CCTV footage handed to police showed two masked men with jerrycans breaking into the eaterie shortly before it went up in flames.

The devastating blaze occurred just five weeks after Mr Wright’s dad Edward George died from coronavirus.

At the time, Mr Wright said in an Instagram post after it was confirmed the fire had been started deliberately: ‘I can say now that it is arson. 

‘Someone’s come and took my whole dream away, for whatever reason I’ll never know, because I don’t have any enemies as far as I’m aware, I didn’t think I did.

‘Whether it’s jealousy or competition, it doesn’t really matter.’