Lawsuit trial in fatal riot in Laughlin wrapping up

Jace Radke

Friday, March 18, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

A jury was scheduled to hear closing arguments today in a federal lawsuit filed against Harrah's Entertainment by the widow of a Mongols motorcycle gang member who was killed in a deadly riot at the 2002 Laughlin River Run.

Yvette Barreras claims in her lawsuit that officials with Harrah's Laughlin knew that the Hells Angels were looking to confront the Mongols and did not take the necessary security measures to protect the guests at the hotel, including her husband, Anthony Salvador Barreras.

The fight between the gangs inside the casino on April 27, 2002, resulted in the deaths of Barreras, 43, Robert Emmet Tumelty, 50, and Jeramie Dean Bell, 27. Twelve others were hurt in the brawl.

On Thursday the jury heard testimony from Thomas Davis, a defense expert witness in hotel security, who said the hotel took all the necessary precautions to protect guests during the motorcycle rally.

"In my opinion this was a spontaneous criminal act, and those are very hard to plan for or even respond to," Davis said of the brawl that occurred when Hells Angels armed with guns and knives entered the casino and began fighting with Mongols. "There wasn't notice that this was going to happen."

Davis, whose Ohio-based firm, Hospitality Risk Control, provides security consulting for hotels, said that in evaluating what happened at Harrah's Laughlin he found no evidence that there was prior knowledge that a confrontation was going to take place at the hotel.

Barreras alleges that Harrah's had information that the Hell's Angels planned to attack the Mongols, and that hotel security failed to stop the Hells Angels from entering the casino with weapons, failed to warn guests of the danger and forced Mongols members to surrender their weapons, leaving them defenseless.

The suit asks for unspecified compensatory economic damages and legal costs.

U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt on Thursday denied Barreras' claim for punitive damages saying that there is "no evidence of willful misconduct by the defendants. There may have been negligence and the jury will decide that."

The 2002 riot has led to both federal and state charges against members of the gangs allegedly involved in the brawl.

In federal court, 42 Hells Angels are charged with 10 counts each of violence in the aid of racketeering and one firearms charge in connection with the brawl. A trial date in the case has not yet been set.

In Clark County District Court, 10 Hells Angels and four Mongols are facing murder and conspiracy charges in connection with the riot. The state court case is currently scheduled to begin on April 18.