Trial under way in suit against casino

Tuesday, May 14, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

MINDEN -- A trial began Monday in the case of a man who sued Harrah's Lake Tahoe, alleging inadequate security, after he was severely beaten in a hotel-casino parking lot.

Paul Witte said the August 1998 parking lot attack by at least three other men followed a confrontation with one of the men whose car had blocked other vehicles.

Witte said he was beaten so badly that he didn't wake up until a day later in a South Lake Tahoe hospital, and since then has had health problems as a result of the attack.

Witte claimed Harrah's had a duty to provide casino patrons with adequate security. He also alleged club employees cleaned up blood at the scene before police arrived, destroying evidence.

Witte also alleged employees failed to preserve tapes from security cameras that could have shown who attacked him, and failed to get statements from numerous potential witnesses.

Harrah's attorney Margo Piscevich termed Witte's claims "totally untrue." She said Witte provoked the fight, adding that there was "reasonable security" in the parking lot but the fight was over in a matter of seconds.

Piscevich also said the brawl wasn't recorded on any security tapes and no tapes of the incident were destroyed.