Poker Pro Sues Las Vegas Police, Caesars for $12.5 Million Over Wrongful Arrest
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Atlantic City poker pro Daniel Demissie has filed a lawsuit in a Nevada court against Caesars Entertainment and the Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD) over a 2023 arrest related to his slot machine play.
The 48-year-old cash game grinder denied the accusations, and the charges were dropped. But, as he told PokerNews, he spent 30 hours in jail. Following his arrest, he was, in his own words, wrongfully subjected to a "order out corridor," a Las Vegas law that applies only to convicted criminals, mostly drug and prostitution related offenders. He was subsequently banned from the Las Vegas Strip. That triggered a sting operation from federal authorities, 24/7 surveillance, and and criminal entrapment related to drug and casino offenses.
At least 30,000 undercover agents, informants, and others participated in the sting operation, which has lasted the past 17 months, he claims.
“When the police arrested me, they found eight slot vouchers in my pocket," Demissie said. "They just assumed they were stolen.”
PokerNews has obtained the 67-page lawsuit filed March 10 in the United States District Court of Nevada. Demissie, who said he regularly plays $2/$5 games in various Atlantic City card rooms, seeks $12.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. But, as he explained, one of his main goals is to challenge a Nevada statute on fraudulent acts, a law he refers to as "unconstitutionally vague."
Poker Player Files a Lawsuit
Demissie said he flew to Las Vegas in the summer of 2023 to play cash game poker during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) because "the action is great." He stayed at Harrah's and had stopped at Flamingo on June 17 to play some advantage play slot machines. That is when he was approached by two LVMPD officers,
The gambler was handcuffed and sent off to the Clark County Detention Center and put into a group cell for 30 hours. He said he was never even told how much the voucher was worth. The charges led to Demissie being banned from the Las Vegas Strip.
The lawsuit alleges that Demissie was "wrongfully arrested and charged with a crime he did not commit due to the egregious misconduct" of detectives Gabriel Lea and Brooks West, both defendants. Detectives Lea and West are alleged to have fabricated evidence and created a false pretense for probable cause.
Arrest Caused Harm
Demissie, following his arrest, was subsequently banned from the Las Vegas Strip for eight months and added to a court database of chronic and repeat offenders "typically associated with drug and prostitution offenses," all without, as he says, due process and through no fault of his own. Although the charges were eventually dropped, the poker player's inclusion in said database led to federal authorities to conducting a sting operation.
"(Demissie's) inclusion in the database, accessible to public safety departments, triggered an unprecedented law enforcement operation involving 24/7 surveillance, daily drug sting operations targeting (Demissie), and persistent attempts at entrapment designed to incriminate him," the lawsuit reads.
The Atlantic City grinder claims to have been subjected to "extreme stigma, humiliation, and emotional distress" caused by the arrest.
Court documents explain Demissie's reasoning behind the lawsuit, including "constant fear that rogue agents may plant false evidence or make false accusations." The plaintiff claims Detective Lea's "deliberate false statements" have caused "lasting harm," and that the ongoing threat of continued surveillance has caused significant harm and reputational damage.
Demissie, who has played poker for 20 years, said he was unfairly arrested at Flamingo, a Caesars property. He said he wants to prevent such misconduct in the future, and hopes the lawsuit will help.
“The first thing is, I have never been arrested, so I want that to be expunged. That’s the main thing. I gave my DNA, fingerprints, everything has to be out," Demissie said.
Demissie, who is also suing Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford, Flamingo, and a Flamingo security manager, is using his lawsuit to challenge a Nevada law on fraudulent acts — NRS 465.070(3).
"It is unlawful for any person to claim, collect or take, or attempt to claim, collect or take, money or anything of value in or from a gambling game, with intent to defraud, without having made a wager contingent thereon, or to claim, collect or take an amount greater than the amount won," the aforementioned statute states.
Demissie takes issue with Ford defending the statute he believes to be "unconstitutionally vague." He argues that Ford, by enforcing NRS 465.070{3), violated his constitutional rights.
Per the lawsuit, Demissie played a few $5 spins on a slot machine during the July 17, 2023 gambling session at Flamingo. He then moved on to another machine where he lost $4 and cashed out, but he does not recall the amount of the voucher. The poker player then sat and waited near an advantage play slot machine hoping an individual seated at the machine would get up and leave the game in his favor.
After the player left, Demissie took a seat, put in his TITO ticket voucher, and proceeded to investigate the machine to see if a positive expected value situation had arisen. He determined the setup wasn't favorable, so he cashed out his ticket.
Demissie claims to have continued this process multiple times, waiting for a favorable setup but eventually moved on to a different machine where he was approached by detectives Lea and West. He said he was initially asked what he was doing before explaining to the officers he was changing the denomination buttons to view the progressive jackpots. Without asking further questions, the LVMPD officers placed Demissie in handcuffs and hauled him off to the casino's back room without explaining to him what he had done wrong, the lawsuit alleges.
Investigators found eight TITO tickets in Demissie's pocket, mostly valued at less than $1. Demissie, who was initially detained while Lea and West investigated, told detectives that all the vouchers were his and were only worth small sums of money.
Demissie was read a trespass notice without being given a reason by the security guard, named "John Doe" in the lawsuit. He was then arrested and transported to jail. Demissie also accuses Detective Lea of committing perjury by making "false statements in the arrest affidavit."
Both the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and Caesars Entertainment have thus far not responded to requests for comment. PokerNews will continue to monitor the lawsuit and offer updates when applicable.
*Photos courtesy WikiCommons & Daniel Demissie
