PHILADELPHIA – A patron of a Northeast Philadelphia bar and restaurant says security guards ejected him from the premises and inflicted a variety of serious injuries in the process, including a broken jaw.
Carlos Vizhnay and Janeth Salazar of Philadelphia filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 12 versus Pennsylvania Strike-Force Security and Gene Pugliese (doing business as “Pennsylvania Strike-Force Security”), also of Philadelphia.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants provided security to the Bamboo Bar on Bustleton Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. On or about Nov. 24, 2013, Vizhnay was a customer of the Bamboo Bar. In the late hour/early morning, one of the bar’s waitresses approached Vizhnay for a tip for her services, after which a verbal altercation between the two parties ensued, the suit says.
At that point, the defendants’ security personnel responded to the incident, intervened and forcibly escorted Vizhnay from the premises. During that interaction, the suit says,
Vizhnay says the defendants utilized excessive and negligently applied force to Vizhnay, leading him to be seriously injured and requiring medical care at Temple University Hospital.
Vizhnay allegedly suffered a broken jaw requiring surgery, post-traumatic cephalgia, right occipital neuralgia, right blepharoptosis associated with right lateral supraorbital laceration, right temporomandibular joint syndrome or exacerbation thereof, and right cervical/lumbar strain with fibromyositis – and the suit says the defendants failed to properly train and supervise their security guards, used excessive force and acted in an unprofessional manner, among other charges.
For multiple counts of breach of contract, negligence and loss of consortium, the plaintiffs are seeking damages in excess of $50,000, plus interest, costs, attorney’s fees and any other relief deemed appropriate by the Court.
The plaintiffs are represented by Lee D. Rosenfeld and Jennifer Gomez Hardy of Messa & Associates, in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 171001668
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com