Atlantic Metropolis poker professional Daniel Demissie has filed a lawsuit in a Nevada court docket towards Caesars Leisure and the Las Vegas Metro Police Division (LVMPD) over a 2023 arrest associated to his slot machine play.
The 48-year-old money recreation grinder denied the accusations, and the costs have been dropped. However, as he informed PokerNews, he spent 30 hours in jail. Following his arrest, he was subjected to a “order out hall,” a regulation that applies solely to convicted criminals, principally drug and prostitution associated offenders. He was subsequently banned from the Las Vegas Strip. That triggered a sting operation from federal authorities, 24/7 surveillance, and and felony entrapment associated to drug and on line casino offenses.
No less than 30,000 undercover brokers, informants, and others participated within the sting operation, which has lasted the previous 17 months.
“I’ve nothing to do with medicine, however when the police arrested me, they discovered eight slot vouchers in my pocket,” Demissie mentioned. “They only assumed they have been stolen.”
PokerNews has obtained the 67-page lawsuit filed March 10 in america District Court docket of Nevada. Demissie, who mentioned he commonly performs $2/$5 video games in numerous Atlantic Metropolis card rooms, seeks $12.5 million in punitive damages. However, as he defined, one in all his fundamental targets is to problem a Nevada statute on fraudulent acts, a regulation he refers to as “unconstitutionally imprecise.”
Poker Participant Recordsdata a Lawsuit
Demissie mentioned he flew to Las Vegas in the summertime of 2023 to play money recreation poker in the course of the World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) as a result of “the motion is nice.” He stayed at Harrah’s and had stopped at Flamingo on June 17 to play some benefit play slot machines. That’s when he was approached by two LVMPD officers,
The gambler was handcuffed and despatched off to the Clark County Detention Middle and put into a gaggle cell for 30 hours. He mentioned he was by no means even informed how a lot the voucher was value. The costs led to Demissie being banned from the Las Vegas Strip.
The lawsuit alleges that Demissie was “wrongfully arrested and charged with against the law he didn’t commit because of the egregious misconduct” of detectives Gabriel Lea and Brooks West, each defendants. Detectives Lea and West are alleged to have fabricated proof and created a false pretense for possible trigger.
Arrest Induced Hurt
Demissie, following his arrest, was subsequently banned from the Las Vegas Strip for eight months and added to a court docket database of continual and repeat offenders “sometimes related to drug and prostitution offenses,” all with out, as he says, due course of and thru no fault of his personal. Though the costs have been ultimately dropped, the poker participant’s inclusion in mentioned database led to federal authorities to conducting a sting operation.
“(Demissie’s) inclusion within the database, accessible to public security departments, triggered an unprecedented regulation enforcement operation involving 24/7 surveillance, every day drug sting operations focusing on (Demissie), and protracted makes an attempt at entrapment designed to incriminate him,” the lawsuit reads.
The Atlantic Metropolis grinder claims to have been subjected to “excessive stigma, humiliation, and emotional misery” brought on by the arrest.
Court docket paperwork clarify Demissie’s reasoning behind the lawsuit, together with “fixed concern that rogue brokers could plant false proof or make false accusations.” The plaintiff claims Detective Lea’s “deliberate false statements” have triggered “lasting hurt,” and that the continued menace of continued surveillance has triggered vital hurt and reputational injury.
Demissie, who has performed poker for 20 years, mentioned he was unfairly arrested at Flamingo, a Caesars property. He mentioned he desires to stop such misconduct sooner or later, and hopes the lawsuit will assist.
“The very first thing is, I’ve by no means been arrested, so I would like that to be expunged. That’s the principle factor. I gave my DNA, fingerprints, the whole lot must be out,” Demissie mentioned.
Demissie, who can also be suing Nevada Lawyer Normal Aaron D. Ford, Flamingo, and a Flamingo safety supervisor, is utilizing his lawsuit to problem a Nevada regulation on fraudulent acts — NRS 465.070(3).
“It’s illegal for any particular person to say, acquire or take, or try to say, acquire or take, cash or something of worth in or from a playing recreation, with intent to defraud, with out having made a wager contingent thereon, or to say, acquire or take an quantity better than the quantity received,” the aforementioned statute states.
Demissie takes challenge with Ford defending the statute he believes to be “unconstitutionally imprecise.” He argues that Ford, by implementing NRS 465.070{3), violated his constitutional rights.
Per the lawsuit, Demissie performed a number of $5 spins on a slot machine in the course of the July 17, 2023 playing session at Flamingo. He then moved on to a different machine the place he misplaced $4 and cashed out, however he doesn’t recall the quantity of the voucher. The poker participant then sat and waited close to a bonus play slot machine hoping a person seated on the machine would rise up and go away the sport in his favor.
After the participant left, Demissie took a seat, put in his TITO ticket voucher, and proceeded to research the machine to see if a optimistic anticipated worth scenario had arisen. He decided the setup wasn’t favorable, so he cashed out his ticket.
Demissie claims to have continued this course of a number of occasions, ready for a good setup however ultimately moved on to a special machine the place he was approached by detectives Lea and West. He mentioned he was initially requested what he was doing earlier than explaining to the officers he was altering the denomination buttons to view the progressive jackpots. With out asking additional questions, the LVMPD officers positioned Demissie in handcuffs and hauled him off to the on line casino’s again room with out explaining to him what he had carried out flawed, the lawsuit alleges.
Investigators discovered eight TITO tickets in Demissie’s pocket, principally valued at lower than $1. Demissie, who was initially detained whereas Lea and West investigated, informed detectives that each one the vouchers have been his and have been solely value small sums of cash.
Demissie was learn a trespass discover with out being given a cause by the safety guard, named “John Doe” within the lawsuit. He was then arrested and transported to jail. Demissie additionally accuses Detective Lea of committing perjury by making “false statements within the arrest affidavit.”
Each the Las Vegas Metro Police Division and Caesars Leisure have to this point not responded to requests for remark. PokerNews will proceed to watch the lawsuit and supply updates when relevant.
*Photographs courtesy WikiCommons & Daniel Demissie
