Biker gang files suit against Harrah's over deadly 2002 Laughlin brawl

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Nine members of the Mongols motorcycle gang have sued Harrah's Entertainment, claiming the company's Laughlin hotel-casino failed to provide adequate security during a 2002 biker rally.

Two Hells Angels and one Mongols motorcycle gang member died and at least 12 people were injured after a brawl involving guns and knives inside Harrah's Laughlin casino.

In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, the Mongols are seeking unspecified damages for injuries suffered during the melee and for causing "anguish, despair and emotional distress."

A Harrah's spokesman said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit says hotel security knew the Hells Angels would be at the rally in Laughlin, a Colorado River resort town about 100 miles south of Las Vegas near the Arizona border. The lawsuit also says hotel security should have known that there was a high probability the Hells Angels would attempt to harm members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club.

"Harrah's employees witnessed numerous Hells Angels coming through the doors with guns, knives and various other weapons in hand ready for use," the lawsuit states. "Plaintiffs did not observe hotel security personnel ... attempt to stop the Hells Angels or ask that the weapons carried by the Hells Angels be left outside or to completely disarm the Hells Angels."

The plaintiffs in the case were listed as Southern California residents Alex Alcantar, Davey Camargo, Benjamin Leyva, Enrique Munoz, Roger Pinney, Walter Ramirez, Jesus Rodriguez, Raymond Santos, Benjamin Silva.

Authorities have made one arrest in connection with the brawl. Calvin Brett Schaefer was arrested in April 2002, but was later released and charges against him were dropped in July 2002.

Investigators have said they are continuing to review videotape of the fight and are sorting through a list of potential defendants in the case.

Schaefer, a member of the Hells Angels, has since been arrested in Arizona as part of a two-year undercover federal investigation into gun and drug trafficking as well as murder-for-hire.

Thirty-six arrest warrants resulted from that investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Schaefer was charged with two counts of possessing a firearm and two counts of possession of methamphetamine.