By ROBERT JABLON
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES- Two cousins of billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone sued the Beverly Hills Hotel and police, alleging they were falsely arrested after security guards roughed them up outside the hotel’s famed Polo Lounge.
The 21-page civil rights suit, filed June 7 in federal court in Los Angeles, contends that Gary and Michael Snyder were victims of a too-cozy relationship between Beverly Hill’s police and hotel security guards.
The Snyders, who live in Florida, were visiting a friend and having drinks at the Polo Lounge last July 23 when a security guard asked to speak with Gary Snyder outside, without giving a reason, and threatened to have him arrested for trespassing if he did not leave the lounge, the suit claims.
After both brothers left the lounge, Gary Snyder turned to say something to his brother. A guard threw him against a door and then to the ground, while Michael Snyder was tackled by another guard when he went to see what was happening to his brother and suffered a broken bone in his finger, the suit contends.
Both were handcuffed. Arriving police accepted the guards’ contention that the Snyders had hit them and arrested them, the suit claims. The officers are accused of filing false police reports.
Attorney Paul Hoffman said Saturday that the guards acted “as adjuncts to the police” even though they lacked the same level of regulation and training as sworn officers.
“Automatically, because the security guards told them to go after these guys ... they are sort of assumed to be the bad guys as opposed to the victims,” Hoffman said.
A call to police spokesman Lt. Mitch McCann was not immediately returned Saturday. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he declined to comment on the lawsuit’s specifics but rejected its premise.
The lawsuit alleges false arrest and imprisonment, assault and battery, negligence and other violations, and seeks unspecified damages. It names the hotel, the city, several security guards and police officers.
Michael Snyder was never charged with a crime, while a trespassing count against Gary Snyder was dropped, Hoffman said.
Sumner Redstone, 82, is the founder of Viacom, Inc. Earlier this year, Forbes magazine ranked him as the 63rd wealthiest man in the world with an estimated worth of $7.7 billion (euro6 billion).