Kim Kardashian buddy Jonathan Cheban’s bodyguard was arrested by police Tuesday and is now facing assault charges after he clocked a man in the face at a Brooklyn restaurant — sending the man to the hospital for emergency surgery, law-enforcement sources told the Post.

“I have pins in my face, I have nerve damage. Half my face is numb,” the victim, Denis Volchkin, 28, a manager at a Brooklyn Optical store told the Post.

“He punched me from behind the manager. My hands were down the whole time,” he added.

Bodyguard Saverio Carollo, 40, also known as “Sal the Contractor,” weighs 265 pounds and stands 6-foot-2. He was at the Mikasa Japanese restaurant with Cheban and his pals on June 1 when the 28-year-old man came up to them, sources said.

“He was seated with a man I know, all I did was stop at the table to say hello. He used to work near me,” Denis
Volchkin explained.

Cheban, who was in the middle of eating, told him to scram.

“He said, ‘Get away, you don’t see a scene here, get away from the table’,” Volchkin explained.

So he did just that. The Brooklyn man took a seat at the sushi bar. But Cheban, who was headed to the bathroom, overheard him talking smack over the phone to a buddy and that’s when things got ugly.

“How are you going to disrespect me in my own restaurant?” Cheban allegedly said, according to the victim.

The two got into a heated argument and a manager tried to break it up, which is when Carollo stepped in and socked the victim in the face, according to police sources.

He was rushed to an area hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery, according to the sources. He suffered multiple facial fractures and needed several stitches.

Cheban told cops the whole thing started when the victim interrupted his meal, the sources said.

Volchkin explained he has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant, who Cheban owns, for leaking video surveillance of the assault to TMZ.

Volchkin identified the culprit in a line-up at the 61st precinct Tuesday, the sources said.

Carollo was charged with assault, cops said.