Actor claims contested nightclub bill led to assault

Cody Saintgnue, a Los Angeles actor and model, came to Las Vegas last year to celebrate his 21st birthday.

But the festivities ended abruptly when a dispute over a nightclub bill left him bruised, handcuffed and isolated in a casino security office.

"It was the worst 21st birthday ever," Saintgnue said during a recent telephone interview.

The events of that weekend now form the basis of a lawsuit against The Mirage and 1 OAK Nightclub. Saintgnue claims he was assaulted and falsely imprisoned at the Strip resort after he refused to pay hundreds of dollars for VIP service that he had not requested. Surveillance footage shows security officers grabbing Saintgnue's arms as he tried to shoot a cellphone video, slamming him against a wall and tackling him on the ground.

Though police were called to the scene, Saintgnue was released without facing charges and without paying the contested bill. Then he hired a lawyer.

"I'm a leader, and I stand for what's right and what's fair," he said of his decision to take legal action.

Representatives of The Mirage declined to comment on the allegations in Saintgnue's lawsuit. Attorney M. Craig Murdy, who represents 1 OAK Nightclub, did not respond to requests for comment.

Saintgnue (pronounced "saint-new") landed his first acting role on the television series "Southland" and later had a guest role on Fox's medical drama "House." He currently plays Brett Talbot on the MTV series "Teen Wolf."

He was adopted when he was 9 and said the June 2014 trip to Las Vegas was his first vacation with members of his biological family, including an aunt and grandfather. The trip came two weeks after his 21st birthday, and the group was staying at The Mirage.

"It was my first time ever in a casino," he said.

Two close friends also came along, and records show that the three men paid a total of $717.36 for bottle and table service at the 1 OAK Nightclub inside The Mirage at 12:21 a.m. on June 29.

According to an amended complaint filed late last month, the friends were dancing and drinking when nightclub personnel approached them and asked whether they wanted to upgrade to "an enhanced VIP status." They declined.

Later, according to the complaint, a nightclub employee approached Saintgnue and pointed to a VIP section where a private party was taking place. The employee told Saintgnue the person having the party wanted to meet him.

Saintgnue, "with some naiveté, saw no problem with the request, consented to meet the individual, and was escorted to the private party by the person working for 1 OAK," the complaint alleges.

After having a few words with the host of the party and staying in the VIP area for a few moments, Saintgnue returned to his table and friends, according to his lawsuit.

"As he left the VIP section, it quickly became obvious that this was no mere invitation without strings as plaintiff understood, but rather, plaintiff was apparently expected to remain with the party for the balance of the evening, and possibly thereafter," the lawsuit alleges.

Saintgnue now thinks the nightclub personnel had solicited him to be the guest or date of the man throwing the party.

"As an aside, plaintiff is straight, young, and again, naive, and completely failed to recognize any such overtones to the invitation or acceptance of the invitation, and thought it was a polite social interchange," according to the lawsuit.

The document claims nightclub personnel approached Saintgnue after he left the party and told him he must pay for VIP service, since he had been at the VIP party, but he refused.

According to the complaint, 1 OAK personnel then escorted Saintgnue out of the nightclub and detained him in a hallway, where they were joined by personnel from The Mirage.

Nightclub personnel initially demanded more than $1,000 in additional payment from Saintgnue, the lawsuit alleges. They later reduced the amount to $700, then $164.68, according to the document.

"It is now evident that the total charges to plaintiff were $164.68, that these were paid in full at the onset of the evening, and that all the assertions by 1 OAK to acquire additional funds through the duress and extortion accompanied by the imprisonment and beatings of the plaintiff were nothing more than an attempted shakedown, theft, and robbery of the plaintiff," the lawsuit alleges.

According to the document, Saintgnue was walking peacefully with employees of The Mirage and 1 OAK when he "was violently attacked without cause, thrown against a wall," tackled and handcuffed.

Surveillance footage of the incident, which has no sound, supports the description. Saintgnue is seen walking in front of a group of five or six men while holding a cellphone up in front of his chest with both hands. As a man on his right reaches for the phone, Saintgnue pulls the phone away, to the left.

Men on each side of him then grab his arms and slam him up against the wall on his left before tackling him on the floor.

Saintgnue told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he was frightened when the group of men escorted him out of the nightclub without his friends. He said he decided to shoot a cellphone video to document what was happening.

"I was shooting video to protect myself," he said.

The cellphone video ends shortly after it begins and did not capture the men tackling Saintgnue. He said he has not watched the surveillance footage obtained by his attorney, Robert Nersesian.

"The attack was undertaken with no less than six persons participating, and plaintiff's head was banged repeatedly against a wall and plaintiff's ribs were bruised, all while plaintiff was not fighting back," the lawsuit alleges.

According to the document, the defendants have falsely accused Saintgnue of instigating the contact.

Saintgnue, who described himself as "gentle" and "reasonable," insisted he did nothing to warrant the treatment he received. He also said he was not intoxicated that morning.

"I didn't even get a full drink in," he said.

Later surveillance footage, in what appears to be a security office, includes audio and shows officers releasing Saintgnue at 3:26 a.m. after warning him not to return to any properties owned by MGM Resorts International.

Later that Sunday, Saintgnue and his grandfather reported the incident to Las Vegas police. The next day, Saintgnue recalled, a makeup artist on the set of "Teen Wolf" had to cover up the bruises on his face.

The names of several individuals were recently added as defendants in Saintgnue's lawsuit: Mirage employees Rob Keller, Octavio Rodriguez and Jose Herrera; 1 OAK employee Alex Minuto; and Nicholas Griffin, a manager at 1 OAK.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer