RN the latest to claim beating by casino security guards
A bachelorette party at an Atlantic City casino erupted into a nightmare for a bridesmaid who says she was “violently and viciously beaten” by a Harrah’s security guard.
A bachelorette party at an Atlantic City casino erupted into a nightmare for a bridesmaid who says she was "violently and viciously beaten" by a Harrah's security guard.
Amy Walsh, a petite registered nurse from Metuchen, is the 10th person to claim she was the target of an unprovoked attack by guards at the casino.
"I was expecting a fun outing with my cousins, some dancing, not anything like what happened," she said. "If it weren't all on videotape, I'd think it was all a bad dream."
Walsh joins a diverse set of alleged victims who have filed suit in federal court against Harrah's parent company, Caesars International, alleging multiple civil rights violations. It includes a mother and daughter from Florida, two Atlantic County cabbies, a North Jersey handyman, a computer science student, a financial analyst, a Penn neuroscience student, and a blackjack dealer. Each of the incidents was captured by Harrah's security cameras.
In addition to naming Caesars as a defendant, Walsh's suit also cites the City of Atlantic City and two moonlighting Atlantic City police officers.
Walsh, 26, held a news conference Wednesday in Egg Harbor Township at her attorney's office.
The wedding party had made reservations for six people at the casino's The Pool After Dark nightclub, she said. They had requested special accommodations on Aug. 24, 2012, since three of them, including the bride-to-be, were legally blind.
For $600, the club promised a table for six in a cordoned-off VIP area, mixers, and a bottle of Grey Goose vodka.
They arrived at the club early, about 11 p.m., and were escorted to their table. A waitress provided six glasses. Since the club was relatively empty, the group asked the waitress if they could walk around the casino and return later to their table. The waitress agreed, and stowed the pricey liquor behind the bar, Walsh said.
When they returned to the club shortly after midnight, the vodka was placed back on the table. But a club employee told them they couldn't sit six people there and removed one of the chairs. The group tried to explain their circumstances, but the employee refused to budge. They asked to speak with a manager, Walsh said.
As the dance music throbbed, she and a cousin tried to explain to the manager that they had made a reservation for six.
"He was very hostile," Walsh said. "Before I knew it, I was being dragged out of the club, through the casino, and into a detention area."
The video of the alleged confrontation was not released by the casino to Walsh's attorneys.
Walsh said she was not inebriated or behaving obnoxiously, so the forcible eviction stunned her.
In the detention area, she tried use her cell phone to take a picture of one of the guards, a uniformed Atlantic City police officer whom the suit identifies as Dayton Brown.
The officer swatted the phone from her hand and forced her into a steel-walled cell.
"He grabbed me by the throat and pinned me against the wall," she said. The surveillance video shows the officer wrestling the 5-foot-3 Walsh into submission as she howls in pain. He handcuffed her hands behind her back and left her to cry. Walsh said the officer never told her she was under arrest.
The incident left her with bruises on her neck, a black eye, neck injuries and post traumatic stress disorder, she said. In addition, she was charged with assaulting a police officer. The charges were later dropped.
Her attorney, Alexis D'Amato Barrera, demanded the city take action against the casino and the officers. Earlier this year, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian prohibited his police officers from working casino security jobs.
"There's something fundamentally wrong about how Harrah's are managing their security officers," D'Amato said. "Now the Atlantic City Police Department have become part and parcel of the problem. It's time for Mayor Guardian to look at police behaving like rogue cops."
A spokesman for Caesars did not immediately return a request for comment. Previously he has stated the company does not comment on pending litigation. Atlantic City officials also declined to comment.