Photo via Facebook

A bartender was walking home along 16th and R streets NW on July 15 when he was knocked unconscious. Joey, a longtime employee at JR’s Bar, woke up in an ambulance after a passerby called 911 and was ultimately diagnosed with two broken bones in his neck.

His manager at JR’s, David Perruzza, launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to support his recovery from being hit “so hard that it broke his neck” as detectives investigated the assault. The police report stated that he was hit with an object from behind and knocked unconscious. Given the location in an area with several gay bars, including JR’s, some worried that it may have been a hate crime.

Now, police say that the injuries were not the result of an attack, but instead an accident.

Joey thanked supporters in a message that updated them on the police’s findings. “While my initial conclusions from the incident lead me to believe I was a victim of a crime, MPD was able to determine that this was indeed just an unfortunate accident,” he wrote, as first reported by The Washington Blade.

The police confirmed as much in a statement: “After further investigation, MPD determined he was not struck with an object from behind, but fell. This is no longer a criminal case and out of respect for this individual’s privacy, we will not be commenting further.”

Joey wrote that he is “truly sorry but I myself had no idea what happened and I was going on what the [doctor] told me. If you would like your money back from the gofundme page, please contact gofundme.” Nearly 300 people have donated a total of more than $18,000.

Many of the supporters on GoFundMe wrote back that they still wanted to help, even if the circumstances of his injuries were different than they initially appeared. “Why would this change anything?!” one wrote. “You’ve suffered tremendously and are unable to work. We’re still here to help no matter the cause!”