Over and over, the agitated bar patron tried to provoke a fight. First, he grabbed the man's beer bottle off the bar and threw it against a wall. Then he flipped over the man's cup.
On both occasions, the bar's video surveillance revealed, Steve "Beaver" Hlinsky refused to take the bait. He remained unfazed and seated at the bar inside the Muddy Boot in his western Minnesota hometown of Forada.
But when a drinking buddy of the provocateur joined in and blew marijuana smoke in Hlinsky's direction, the cool customer decided that was enough.
That decision, however warranted, cost the longtime small-town firefighter his life. Moments later, a bloodied Hlinsky was down on the sidewalk outside the bar, and four men in all high-tailed it out of there, according to police investigators.