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OFF THE WIRE

Police chief, detective added to lawsuit
By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

Boulder City Police Chief Thomas Finn and detective Scott Pastore have been added to a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging they violated the civil rights of members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club during the club’s June meeting at Boulder Inn & Suites.

The amended lawsuit states that Finn and Pastore violated the club’s 14th Amendment right to have equal protection under the law during the June 22-24 meeting, and the club’s First Amendment right to peacefully assemble.

The lawsuit was initially filed June 25 by the Las Vegas Confederation of Clubs, an association including the Mongols and 36 other biker organizations, in response to events unrelated to the Mongols’ Boulder City gathering.

The plaintiffs, also including 33 individuals, are seeking $2.2 million plus punitive damages.

Original defendants include the Metropolitan Police Department, the North Las Vegas Police Department, Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie, North Las Vegas Chief of Police Joseph Chronister and 19 individual police officers.

The lawsuit detailed six encounters that occurred between June 2010 and September 2011 that alleges violated the First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights of the clubs and individuals.

Finn and Pastore are being added as individuals. Neither Boulder City nor the police department are named in the lawsuit.

The complaint was amended Oct. 9 to include Finn and Pastore, because Confederation attorney Stephen Stubbs says emails written by Finn and Pastore surfaced, showing a conspiracy to selectively enforce laws against the Mongols and prevent them from returning to Boulder City.

“The police were only enforcing laws against the Mongols that weekend,” Stubbs said. “They were not enforcing laws against anyone else.”

Finn stated he could not comment on the lawsuit because it was pending litigation. Pastore could not be reached.

In a June 18 email written by Finn to City Attorney Dave Olsen and Boulder City Municipal Court Judge Victor Miller, Finn states that the several dozen law enforcement agencies working in Boulder City during the Mongols event were taking a zero-tolerance approach.

Finn’s email also requests on behalf of all the agencies, if the court and prosecutor would consider not making any deals with Mongols.

“Doing so would make it clear to the ‘Mongol Miscreants’ that Boulder City does not tolerate bad behavior,” Finn states in the email.

Stubbs said 15 Mongols were cited for equipment violations during the weekend, but other non-Mongols have come forward saying that they were let off with warnings for equipment violations.

“If there was zero tolerance against everybody, that would be different,” Stubbs said. “But based on what happened, and that admission in that email that they had zero tolerance against the Mongols, that is a clear 14th Amendment violation,” Stubbs said.

Stubbs also said the Mongols’ equal protection rights were violated when he and one of the members of the Caruso family, which owns the Boulder Inn & Suites, tried to file a complaint with Boulder City Police because Las Vegas police officers trespassed on Boulder Inn & Suites property.

After being ignored by dispatch at the police station, Stubbs said he called Finn directly and was told to “quit bitching.”

“Regardless of whether we went to dispatch, when I made that report to Chief Finn and he refused to act and refused to protect the Caruso’s property, that was a 14th Amendment violation,” Stubbs said.

An interdepartmental email written by Pastore on June 27 thanks other members of the Boulder City Police Department for “a job well done” during the Mongol event, and states, “Everyone made an impact on keeping our city free of (outlaw motorcycle gang) rallies such as these … I don’t anticipate another rally, based on the results.”

Stubbs said Pastore’s email is less revealing than Finn’s, but expects more information to be revealed during the trial.

The Metropolitan Police Department also is being sued for actions that allegedly occurred in Boulder City, including trespassing on the Caruso’s property, as well as detaining people and pulling over a vehicle without legal probable cause.

Stubbs also said it was important to note that Boulder City is not being sued, because the Mongols felt welcomed by the community.

“The Mongols specifically do not want the people of Boulder City involved in this lawsuit. They’re bending over backwards to make sure the wrong people aren’t sued here.”

Finn and Pastore were served the case earlier this week. Stubbs said the original defendants should be served within a week.

Stubbs said he had held off on having the original lawsuit served because it became clear soon after the original June 25 filing that the lawsuit would be amended.

The parties have 21 days to respond to the lawsuit once they are served.