Pennsylvania’s Wind Creek Casino Sees Elderly Visitor Allegedly Attack State Trooper

Posted on: April 16, 2021, 01:16h. 

Last updated on: April 16, 2021, 01:49h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A 68-year-old casino-goer allegedly bit a state trooper’s hand at Pennsylvania’s Wind Creek Bethlehem during her arrest on Wednesday. The suspect, identified as Rui Y. Li, also allegedly spit throughout the trooper’s office in the gaming property.

Wind Creek Casino Attack
A sign for Wind Creek Bethlehem casino, shown here. The Pennsylvania gaming property was the site of an unruly 68-year-old woman who allegedly bit a state trooper. (Image: The Morning Call)

Earlier, she allegedly hit a female casino security officer several times. It was then that the trooper intervened and attempted to place handcuffs on Li. But Li resisted.

Officials said they soon carried Li to the trooper’s office. Eventually, state police put extra restraints on the woman.

Li was charged with several offenses, WFMZ, a local TV station in Pennsylvania, reported. These include criminal trespass, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and harassment.

Before the trooper was bit, the officer saw the security officer attempting to lead Li on the casino floor.

Suspect Allegedly Refused to Leave Casino

Security officers complained Li  was “unwilling to leave.” She was asked to do so several times.

The casino employed a translator so Li would understand the casino’s concerns. Earlier, she showed inappropriate behavior, casino security officers said. It was unclear what she had done to initially prompt her ejection from the casino.

Following her arrest, Li appeared in local court. Bethlehem District Magisterial Judge Roy A. Manwaring set bail at $25,000. Unable to post bail, late this week she remained in custody at Northampton County Prison.

She is scheduled to return to court on April 28. On that day, Li is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on the case, WFMZ said.

Prior Casino Incident

In an unrelated incident, a Bethlehem, Penn. man was sentenced in January to at least 12 years in state prison in connection with the kidnapping and holdup of a senior citizen at the casino.

Hykeem Sessoms, 39, allegedly stole $7 after terrorizing the victim. At the time, she was 84 years old.

The incident took place in December 2019. Sessoms followed the woman out of the casino. She was there on Senior Day.

Senior citizens on that day take part in a prize draw. They can receive $500 worth of slots play for free.

The victim had cashed out. She then walked to the casino’s third-floor garage, where her car was parked.

Sessoms snuck up behind her, police said. He claimed to have a firearm, police add. He allegedly threatened to kill the woman unless she handed over money.

Sessoms then allegedly kicked her shin. She slumped and fell into the car from the painful assault.

Sessoms sat in the car, too. He demanded that she drive. Soon, he was repeatedly hitting her on the side of the head, police said. Later, he stole $7 from her purse and fled, police said.

But Sessoms’ sentencing was not the end of the case.

The victim, later identified as Jean Hartranft, and her husband, Richard, have filed a negligent lawsuit against Wind Creek.

Grounds for the suit are that its employees should have stopped the robbery and assault with appropriate security and surveillance practices, they claim.

Instead, the casino later offered them a “free dinner as a proposed remedy,” according to Pennsylvania’s The Morning Call newspaper.

Over a year after the ordeal, Jean Hartranft continues to need counseling for the trauma. She now “lives in constant fear, rarely leaves her home, and often has flashbacks of the attack,” the lawsuit states.