Litigation erupts over crime problem at Vegas nightclub

Grace Leong

Tuesday, June 4, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

A Flamingo Road nightclub, its landlord and Metro Police are becoming entangled in litigation over claims the club has failed to prevent illegal drug use and other crimes on its premises.

Daja Ltd. doing business as SRO Cafe at 1700 E. Flamingo Road was issued a notice of chronic nuisance on May 3 by Metro Police.

The notice listed numerous crimes at the club including "possession, unlawful use and sale of a controlled substance, disorderly conduct, battery, assault, burglary, aiming and discharging a firearm, furnishing liquor to a minor and drinking packaged liquor in a parking lot."

SRO challenged the notice as unconstitutional in a May 23 lawsuit against the police department and Clark County.

"Metro is trying to shut down SRO for a problem that exists throughout Clark County and is unfairly and unequally applying the law to SRO when they know the crime and drug problem doesn't just exist at SRO but throughout Clark County," said David Chesnoff, SRO's attorney.

But Steven Sweikert, a Clark County deputy district attorney, disputed SRO's claims, saying the nightclub allegedly "failed to sufficiently monitor and prevent the (alleged) criminal activity that occurred at its parking lot and business."

Meanwhile several landlords, including Anthony and Marcelle Mudarris of Las Vegas and Murray and Raymonde Friend of Los Angeles, filed their own lawsuit against tenant Helen Thomas -- whom they said subleased their property to SRO. The landlords also sued Metro and Clark County.

The landlords, who said they also received the notice on May 3 from the police department, denied responsibility for the alleged crimes and denied having any control over SRO's operations.

Robert Purdy, the landlords' attorney, said the landlords will try to eliminate the alleged criminal activity by initiating eviction proceedings against SRO.

The landlords want a court order to close the nightclub, saying they are "in threat of suffering irreparable harm in that Clark County may secure and close the property until such nuisance is abated (and) impose a civil penalty of up to $500 per day for each day that the condition wasn't abated."

Chesnoff disputed the landlords' lawsuit.

"The landlords are put in a bad situation by Metro because they're being threatened as well."