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A man thought a woman was being assaulted at a Salt Lake City bar and got beat up trying to intervene — but the woman says she was just using the restroom

The woman whose visit to the men’s room precipitated a brawl at a downtown Salt Lake City bar last weekend has told police that her would-be rescuer mistook the situation and she was just using the restroom.

Police are now investigating who’s to blame for the assault, which left 32-year-old Todd Snyder bloodied and bruised with a broken jaw, police spokesman Keith Horrocks said Thursday.

On Saturday night, Snyder and his girlfriend were at the Jackalope Lounge, 372 S. State St., when they saw a woman they thought was being forced into the men’s restroom with a group of men. A man stood guard at the door, according to a police report.

Seeing what he apparently thought was the beginnings of a sexual assault, Snyder pushed past the man at the door and started banging on it. The people inside came out and attacked him, according to the report.

In the woman’s version of events, her friends were helping her because the women’s restroom only had one stall and was full, Horrocks said.

Given the two competing stories — and that “alcohol, at least in the part of one of the parties, was a factor” — Horrocks said it is possible Snyder misinterpreted the situation.

After speaking with both sides, Horrocks said investigators are reviewing surveillance footage from the bar to find who, if anyone, is at fault for the attack.