Thursday, September 30, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Woman suing for dragging dies

Attorney says incident at casino made heart condition worse

A surveillance video from Sept. 3, 2003, shows footage of Paula Sadoff, in handcuffs, being dragged across the floor at Palace Station. Sadoff died in her sleep on Sept. 16.

The woman suing the Metropolitan Police Department for being dragged through a casino has died.

Paula Sadoff, 56, died in her sleep Sept. 16, a little more than a year after Palace Station video cameras caught a Las Vegas police officer dragging her across the floor through the hotel. The video has helped the incident gain national attention in the past month.

Her lawyer, Brent Bryson, said the death was related to heart problems Sadoff experienced since the Sept. 3, 2003, incident.

"We ... believe the incident exacerbated her pre-existing condition," Bryson said.

Sadoff and her husband, 84-year-old Robert Sadoff, filed the lawsuit against the department and the hotel last month in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The couple was seeking at least $4 million.

In the lawsuit, Paula Sadoff said she broke her wrist and kneecap when the officer, identified as Matthew Vorce, dragged her across the floor and slammed her on the pavement outside.

Paula Sadoff spent the next five months in a wheelchair and underwent physical therapy to learn to walk again, she said.

During an interview last month, she said she still had to use a cane to get around.

"My body's broken up, and I can't use it the way I used to," she said at the time.

Lt. Brett Primas, who heads the Police Department's Risk Management Section, would not comment on the lawsuit but said the death would not change anything.

Bryson said Paula Sadoff had dealt with a lifelong heart murmur, but the condition didn't cause problems until after the dragging incident, he said.

Her doctor had suggested a procedure to take care of the murmur, but she wanted to wait until after one last knee operation, he said.

"This is a terrible tragedy and we are all deeply saddened and in shock by Paula's untimely death," Bryson said.

Bryson said he will probably add a wrongful death claim to the lawsuit.

The Sadoffs' lawsuit triggered an internal investigation of Vorce's actions. Despite losing their main witness, police will continue the investigation, said Deputy Chief Mike Ault, who oversees internal affairs.

The investigation will be hindered, however, because detectives had yet to interview Paula Sadoff, he said.

"We're gonna have to construct what would have been her statement," he said.

Ault said detectives would rely on news accounts, court filings and other materials to reconstruct her version of events from that night.

The incident began when a hotel security guard called police after hearing a slap and yelling from the couple's room. Officers arrived and saw a small scratch on Robert Sadoff's cheek and swelling on Paula Sadoff's right wrist, according to police reports.

When Robert Sadoff was arrested, his wife tried to pull him away from the officers, the reports said.

In his incident report, Vorce said Paula Sadoff "refused to walk and had to be carried to the patrol unit by officers."

The hotel surveillance cameras show the officer dragging Paula Sadoff by her handcuffed arms across the hotel floor and out the door.

Paula Sadoff previously said she passed out and did not remember the incident or being dragged.