An entire line of family members grabbed a guy at a Hyde Park bar and beat him up

A man who says he was just chilling one night at Cavan Cafe, 1406 Hyde Park Ave. in Hyde Park, when an entire family lined up, rushed him and beat him up, leaving him with two broken eye sockets and two broken ribs on Oct. 1, police, the Cavan's bartender and the victim himself told the Boston Licensing Board this morning.

Why an entire family, apparently at the bar to celebrate one member's birthday, would beat up the guy - and throw a glass of water at the bartender and then push him on the guy as he lay on the floor shortly after midnight - perplexed police, the bartender and the man himself.

The bartender said it seemed like family members thought the man had inappropriately touched some women when he got up to dance, but the bartender said he saw no such fondling going on on reviews of surveillance video the bar had.

The man "was just dancing around, having a good time," but with no inappropriate touching, he said.

"I guess I was just having too much of a good time," the victim told the board.

The bartender did allow that one of the guys in the party got slightly pushy earlier in the evening, a bit too upset when he thought his drinks were slow in coming. "I told him to relax," and he did, the bartender said. But later, once the rush and attack happened, that same guy "pushed me over victim when he was on the floor," he said, adding somebody else threw a glass of water at him.

One BPD officer reported that when he arrived at the Cavan, he found the victim sitting on a bar stool, a towel full of ice up to his right eye, which was swollen shut. But the man declined medical attention or a ride to a local hospital, and the officer drove him home to Roxbury.

The next day, though, the man told the board, he figured he'd better get checked out at which point he discovered how badly he'd been hurt. He then spent four days in the hospital. "Thank God for my military coverage," he said.

This was the second celebration at the Cavan in four months that ended badly. In June, a man out with a friend to celebrate his wedding earlier that day got stabbed in the leg in the cafe parking lot - as did his friend.

The licensing board decides Thursday whether the Cavan could have done anything to stop the attack and, if, so whether any sort of punishment is warranted.