LEWISTON — A Greene man was recovering Wednesday from an incident that nearly cost him his nose, police said.

Ryan Zinninger, 29, was dancing at Pub 33, a bar on Sabattus Street, at around 12:30 a.m. when a stranger came up and bit his nose, police said.

Zinninger was taken to Central Maine Medical Center where a doctor sewed his nose into place with 12 stitches, police said. He was later released from the hospital, a nursing supervisor said.

Zinninger might lose the tip of his nose, depending on how successfully it heals, the doctor said.

Witnesses at the bar, which counts Tuesday nights among its busiest, thanks to cheap drink specials, said Zinninger and the suspect had an altercation.

But the attack seemed random, a bartender said, and Zinninger was bitten before a bouncer could reach the pair, whom he noticed talking on the pub's small dance floor.

According to a police report, Zinninger was dancing with some people when a stranger "leaned into him and bit him on the face."

"I've worked here for six years and I've never seen anything like that happen," said bartender Amanda Bosse. "Who really does that?"

Police are hoping to secure a warrant to arrest the suspect on a charge of aggravated assault.