Vegas police discourage couple from filing
crime report against protected topless bar
Hapless tourist accidentally dissed a "made man" --
then met our city's finest
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
July 26, 2004
Eddie Soula
Dear Steve,
My name is Eddie Soula, and I am from San Diego. I was visiting
Vegas because I turned 21 on the 15th of July 2004. On 7-17 my girlfriend
and I went to the Crazy Horse to have a little fun and it turned into a
nightmare. After my girlfriend paid for a lap dance for me, she decided
to sit at the bar until it was over. While sitting there she was
physically removed from her seat and told that she wasn't working tonight.
When she explained that she didn't work there, a man that called himself
"Vinney" (sp) told her not to "fucking talk back" and physically
forced her out of the club. When my dance ended I went looking for
her and one bouncer said she was outside. I found her out there crying
with bruises on her arms from this Vinney guy. I had left my cell
phone in the club by accident and told her I was going to go pick it up
and make a complaint to the manager. When I tried to complain I was
told to "go fuck" myself and that my girlfriend was a prostitute, so I
loudly demanded that I needed to speak to Vinney right this second.
The next thing I know I was attacked by at least four bouncers. One stuck
his finger into my eye socket and ask me how it felt while the others punched
me in the back and sides of my head, I was knocked unconscious and
came to with a bouncer on top of me telling me to stop resisting. I, as
calmly as I possibly could, with tears in my eyes, tried to explain that
I was not resisting and didn't want any trouble, all I wanted was to complain
to Vinney. When the police arrived a few minutes
later, they put me in handcuffs. My girlfriend who had seen the last
part of the beating, couldn't hold back anymore and tried to run to me
because my face was bloody and my eyes swollen. An officer stepped
in front of her and she brushed by him trying to get around him.
She was then arrested for assaulting an officer. So with both of
us handcuffed and my face pretty messed up, we were offered by the Sergeant
that we would be let go, but if we decided to press charges on the club,
my girlfriend would be charged with assaulting an officer. So
we took the offer and got in a cab and went to Sunrise emergency where
they gave me a catscan and treated me for multiple small cuts and a sprained
knee. I have a concussion and have a little blurry vision along with
a knee injury that is going to prevent me from working for at least a few
days. I also had $300 dollars taken from my
pocket while I was being subdued by the bouncers. I filled
out a (police) report after I was released from the hospital at
10am on saturday the 17th. I have pictures of my cut and swollen
eyes and an abrasion on my back and knee. If you have any advice
or could help me in any way I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for
your time, Eddie Soula
LAS VEGAS - For the second time in a week, a few crooked Vegas police
officers have been accused of providing protection to a politically connected
topless bar. On Friday, July 23, Las Vegas Review Journal columnist
John L. Smith wrote:
"As
the Crazy Horse Too case draws closer to the indictment stage, word is
surfacing that authorities are investigating whether two of the topless
club's employees received preferential treatment after being stopped for
suspicion of driving under the influence."
For years its been suspected that Crazy Horse owner Rick
Rizzolo has been paying
off local cops and politicians to leave him and his band of thugs
and thieves alone and let them continue their reign of terror and alleged
credit card coercion while remaining immune from prosecution.
Meanwhile, numerous complaints of beatings after bar patrons refused
to sign falsified credit card receipts have gone unprosecuted. In
February 2003, the protection racket became so obvious that the feds
had to step in.
.
.
.
.
Paul
Russo
Jermaine
Simieou
Kirk
Henry
Eben Kostbar
Scott
Fau
Even with overwhelming evidence presented, police reports filed, and
national
press coverage, no arrests were made and former Clark County District Attorney
Stu Bell and his successor DA David
Roger refused to prosecute. Also, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, the
former criminal defense attorney for Rizzolo and a number of his associates,
repeatedly has refused to challenge the bar's liquor license though he
jumps
to do so when competitive businesses step even slightly out of line.
To help me prove my point, I refer to an August 6, 2003 Associated
Press story
where it
states that Clark County Sheriff Bill Young called Rizzolo a person
"of ill repute" after being informed by the FBI that one of his top level
officers accepted a no-repayment-necessary $15,000 "loan" from the topless
bar owner.
The officer has since resigned. "Young said Keller could
have been demoted or fired after Internal Affairs investigators ruled he
violated department policies prohibiting officers from 'accepting gifts
from suspects' and 'consorting with persons of ill repute.'" The AP
story went on to say, "The loan was discovered in February when dozens
of FBI agents raided Rizzolo's club, Crazy Horse Too. Agents discovered
a document in Rizzolo's desk indicating Keller had accepted the funds in
1999."
(Sheriff Young inadvertently inherited a few corrupted
cops after being elected in 2003, and is trying to clean up the mess
left by his predecessor Jerry Keller who is no relation to Sgt. Tom Keller.
In the meantime the Sheriff is asking voters to approve a sales tax increase
to pay for more officers. I suggest he rid his department of any remaining
hoodlums before asking for a tax increase. -- SM)
This week, a notice was reportedly posted on the door of Rizzolo's office
directing club personnel including Vinnie Faraci, the man identified by
Soula's girlfriend as "Vinney," to immediately meet with club attorney
Jon
Norheim to arrange for their legal defense in the event more persons
than Rizzolo are indicted later this summer.
As the paranoia grows, it would seem logical that the beatings would
stop. But in Eddie Soula's case, he had obviously stepped over an imaginary
line by dissing someone who is said to be a "made man," and a suspected
hidden owner in the club. Vinnie
is the son of Bonanno crime family capo "Johnny Green" Faraci. I guess
young Mr. Soula should have known better than to loudly demand an audience
with such a respected guy!
Soula and his girlfriend Alyssia told me that when police arrived, they
were observed giving high five's to the same bouncers who assaulted him,
something witnesses to the beating of Eben Kostbar also described happening.
Also, the Sergeant failed to file a report of the incident -- another ominous
sign that inspires me to hand deliver a copy of this article to Sheriff
Young and other interested parties.
Courtesy
of KVBC TV News
And again, I refer to award winning writer John L. Smith who in his
July 20, 2004 Review Journal column,
"Time feature sidesteps underbelly of `new Vegas,' delights city's boosters,"
had this to say about reporters who only look at our city through
rose ($$$) colored glasses: "Stein managed to sidestep the dicey and
embarrassing issue of political corruption and prostitution tied to the
local topless trade by not focusing on the scandal-riddled Galardi and
Rizzolo operations and instead strolling through Sapphire and the Spearmint
Rhino. It was an inspired move on his part. Had he looked, it might have
been ugly. And we hate ugly."
All of the above paints a clear picture of protection under color
of law, and a clearer picture of the reason the federal Organized
Crime Strike Force Unit stepped in to clean up our out of control mess
-- something that sends shudders up and down the spines of long time Las
Vegans who "hate ugly" -- especially those, including the mayor, who are
charged with promoting our town's favorable image worldwide.
If the truth were to be told, those who come to Vegas to enjoy our "What
happens here stays here" reputation should be forewarned to ENTER AT YOUR
OWN RISK! This, thanks to folks like former and present DAs Bell and Roger
who refused to prosecute after dozens of complaints; Mayor Goodman who
has repeatedly refused to question the activities of his former clients;
and a score of corrupted police officers who spend too much off and on
duty time in a cop-friendly topless bar.
Payoffs
for protection to persons in high positions in local and state government
including a few judges,
must not be the "stays here" part of the new Vegas story. When the
dust settles, the story of Rick Rizzolo, et al. and its' trail of blood
and payola may in all likelihood transcend
the legends of other famous Vegas denizens like Bugsy Siegel, Frank Rosenthal
and Tony Spilotro.
The only good news is that business at the Crazy Horse Too has reportedly
fallen off by at least fifty percent since 1999. That's when I began regularly
writing about the violence and political corruption. Hopefully, because
of my efforts and those of reporters John L. Smith, Jeff German, Glen
Meek, and Cathy Scott, other innocent tourists who haplessly wander
into Rizzolo's den of violence may be spared.
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scandals, click here: Steve Miller's Las Vegas E-Briefs
Copyright © Steve Miller
email Steve Miller at: Stevemiller4lv@aol.com
