Nevada casino slapped with record fine for fights involving security guards
Four of the five Riverside resort security officers who roughed up a patron and a resort employee in separate incidents in 2022 were fired after the incidents and the fifth was reassigned to a nongaming job at the Laughlin property.
The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to impose a $500,000 fine — the highest ever assessed for an incident of its kind — in a settlement between the Riverside and the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The Laughlin incidents occurred in July and August 2022 and involved a patron who wouldn’t leave a slot machine area during an accounting check and an unidentified Riverside employee who was falsely accused of smoking marijuana during his shift.
In both cases, people were injured when in the hands of the security guards.
In the July incident, the casino patron was thrown to the ground and reported a leg injury.
In the August incident, the confrontation between the employee and four guards escalated until the employee banged his head against a metal wall in a holding cell and lost consciousness for 18 minutes.
Metro Police arrested the four guards on coercion with physical force, a felony, and false imprisonment, a gross misdemeanor. The charges eventually were dismissed on the condition that the guards stay out of trouble.
Months after the incidents, Riverside formed a review committee to address the incidents and to prevent similar actions from occurring again.
Commissioner Ogonna Brown, who said she was “disturbed” by the incidents, asked Riverside Chief Operating Officer Matthew Laughlin why the company didn’t report the incidents when they occurred. Laughlin replied that there’s no regulation or statute that requires a licensee to report an incident of that type.
“The business judgment of the company should compel these types of incidents be reported to the board,” she replied.
Laughlin said different security guards were involved in the two incidents and that the company didn’t assess the personalities of the guards involved in the incidents prior to their hiring.
“Instead of diffusing the situation,” Laughlin said, “they (guards) took it to the next level.”
Gaming license revoked
In a separate matter, the gaming license of Saddle N Spurs Saloon in Las Vegas was revoked and the licensee, Bob Kingston Productions Inc., will not be able to reapply for another for at least five years.
In the Las Vegas incident, a slot route operator tipped off the Control Board that the licensee didn’t have a bankroll to cover a slot machine jackpot.
The shortfall was quickly remedied, but during the course of the investigation, the Control Board found that Kingston had sold the bar on North Jones Boulevard to Two Brothers Ventures LLC, which didn’t have a gaming license.
“In short, the ownership of the location was a mess which could not be cleaned up absent finalization of the restricted gaming license,” Deputy Attorney General John Michela told the commission.
The commission voted 4-0 with one abstention to revoke the license.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
