Three Michigan men file suit against sheriff’s office, Harrah’s

Three Michigan businessmen who brought a truckload of relief supplies for Hurricane Rita victims and drove to Louisiana to deliver them have filed suit against the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Office, deputies, Harrah’s Entertainment and Harrah’s employees for assault, false arrest, false imprisonment, willful misconduct, and deprivations of civil and constitutional rights.

The three businessmen, Louis Toth, Jeffrey Schmitz, and Ronald Moon, operate a franchise of 23 vehicle glass repair shops in Michigan.

The suit, filed recently in U.S. District Court, says that in late September 2005, the businessmen brought a truckload of relief supplies, rented an SUV, and headed for Port Arthur, Texas.

They were forced to seek refuge in the Harrah’s casino parking lot in Lake Charles because of high winds from Hurricane Rita.

To protect against flying debris, the men reportedly dressed in snowmobile helmets, chest protectors and shin guards.

The suit says Harrah’s security guards and a sheriff’s deputy confronted them with guns drawn. The deputy and the guards took the three men into a nearby building, duct-taped their ankles, handcuffed them, accused them of looting, threatened them and interrogated them, the suit says.

The men tried to explain their mission, denied any wrongdoing, and offered to show receipts for their merchandise, but they were turned over to deputies, who choked them, beat them, and abused them, the suit says.

Conditions in the parish jail were hot, humid and over-crowded, and the men had to sleep on the floor in a cell where the sink and the toilet did not work the suit says.

The three men were never charged with a crime, it says.

The plaintiffs have retained the Birmingham, Mich.-based law firm of Norman Yatooma & Associates to represent them.

A lawsuit represents a dispute between two parties, but only gives one side’s grievances.