Mazzeo reported violence by boyfriend in hotel room

Sam Skolnik

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006 | 7:57 a.m.

The incident involving Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Gibbons was not the first time in recent months that Las Vegan Chrissy Mazzeo has claimed that a man assaulted her.

The two cases, however, are clearly different in nature. In one, she claims a boyfriend angrily threw her to the floor of a Laughlin hotel room and then attempted to smother her.

In contrast, Gibbons, whom she had only met about an hour earlier, allegedly assaulted her on Oct. 13 in part by threatening her sexually, after she said he had repeatedly flirted with her at a Hughes Center restaurant.

Mazzeo, 32, told Metro police that she and her boyfriend, Nick Griffith, had been drinking after arriving at Harrah's Laughlin on July 3, according to an incident report.

Griffith reacted violently after Mazzeo's cell phone rang, she told police, picking her up and throwing her on the bed. He then allegedly threw her on the floor. When she woke up after passing out, he was covering her mouth, not allowing her to breathe, she said.

Griffith, 37, then threatened to commit suicide by jumping out of the hotel window, she told police.

There is little doubt that Mazzeo was injured in the attack, according to a police report that Metro made public Wednesday. Officials found a bump on the side of her head, bruises on both arms, a possibly broken bone in her left hand and bruises on her legs.

It is less clear whether Mazzeo was physically injured in the incident with Gibbons. Her attorney, Richard Wright, said at a news conference Wednesday that a police evidence technician took photos of injuries on Mazzeo's arms and back - but complained that Metro has refused to provide those photos to him.