Figure in dispute between Station, Greenspun posts bail

A key player in a lawsuit that pits Greenspun Corp. affiliates against Station Casinos Inc. was released on bail after being arrested Saturday on allegations of domestic violence, according to a Henderson Justice Court clerk.

The clerk said Monday that Timothy Wright, 41, will make his first court appearance at 9 a.m. April 7.

Wright, the former manager of Green Valley Ranch Resort, which is now at the center of civil litigation, was arrested by Henderson police shortly after midnight Friday.

Neighbors called police and alleged that Wright had battered his live-in girlfriend, Belad Chirco, at their home south of Sunridge Heights Parkway and east of Seven Hills Drive, according to the arrest report.

He is charged with domestic battery by strangulation, aiming or discharging a firearm at a human being and discharging a firearm at or into a structure or occupied vehicle. According to the arrest report, the incident began because Wright believed Chirco was leaving him.

Chirco, 36, told police Wright choked her for about 10 seconds, the arrest report said. She also told police Wright aimed a handgun at her before firing a round near her head.

She then grabbed the weapon from Wright, removed the magazine and threw the parts into the swimming pool, the arrest report said.

When Wright jumped into the pool to retrieve the items, Chirco left, she told police.

She told neighbors what had happened and eventually returned home, where she told Wright to "finish this," the report said. She put the gun muzzle into her mouth and told him to pull the trigger, the report said. She alleges that Wright told her to shoot herself and that she instead fired a round into a closet door, the report said.

Wright admitted to choking Chirco, the arrest report said, but just for "two or three seconds." The report said he also admitted that he pointed the gun at Chirco's head but denied knowing it was loaded.

Wright, in an affidavit filed Feb. 1, accused Station Casinos of systematically steering high-stakes gamblers from Green Valley Ranch to properties it fully owns. A Station Casinos affiliate owns half of Green Valley Ranch, in partnership with an affiliate company of Greenspun Corp.

After the resort's Station Casinos affiliate declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, the Greenspun affiliate filed a motion in bankruptcy court alleging "wrongdoing" based on Wright's affidavit.

Wright was fired as resort manager in November.

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.