Guest Claims Venetian Left Him in Coma for Wearing Pants Wrong

Posted on: November 8, 2024, 03:33h. 

Last updated on: November 8, 2024, 03:35h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

A 2022 guest at the Venetian in Las Vegas claims in a new lawsuit that he was pushed to the ground by the casino resort’s security officers, an act that put him in a coma for two days and left lingering physical and mental scars.

Las Vegas Sands Palazzo Venetian
A new civil suit filed this week seeks unspecified damages from the Venetian after its security officers allegedly employed “excessive force” during a November 2022 incident. (Image: Las Vegas Sands)

According to the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday by LA resident Javier Marquez and first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, two Venetian security officers confronted Marquez for wearing his pants below his waist, “consistent with current clothing trends.”

The officers explained that they were responding to reports of a man “exposing himself,” and that Marquez fit the description. Marquez was in Vegas celebrating his birthday with his wife.

The officers, identified in the complaint as William Silvey and Michael Palmer, offered to escort the plaintiff back to his hotel room to change, which he declined. So, according to the complaint, they forced him into mechanical restraints and a wheelchair.

A third officer then responded, according to the lawsuit, pushing Marquez onto the pavement with what the complaint described as “excessive force.”

This caused the plaintiff to black out from a head injury that landed him in a local hospital, where he awoke two days later and also discovered damage to his right eye, face, jaw and teeth — several of which he lost.

According to his lawsuit, Marquez “continues to suffer mentally and emotionally,” experiencing severe pain and cognitive decline, and struggling with daily tasks including the operation of his business, which in turn has caused financial hardship.

Marquez’ wife, Nancy Marquez, is also named as a plaintiff, for the distress she suffered “witnessing the man she once knew transformed by this traumatic event” and the loss of “companionship, comfort and partnership” that the experience allegedly caused her.

According to the complaint, the couple’s marriage was “deeply strained by the lasting impact” of Marquez’s physical and mental injuries.

The suit also names Alexis Padilla, the manager on duty at the Venetian, as a defendant for allegedly failing to ensure that an incident report was filed.