KC-area bouncers wrongly imprisoned women, suit says. They settle for $1 million
Grain Valley MO June 29 2018
It seemed more like the plot of a horror movie than a true account of a night at a Kansas City-area bar.
Two sisters claimed in a lawsuit that bouncers refused to let them leave, battered them and handcuffed them to a wall — all because the bouncers wrongly thought the women had used a counterfeit $50 bill.
Nick Hinrichs, an attorney representing the women, told The Star on Tuesday that his clients had reached a $1 million settlement against the bouncers and the owner of the bar. Missouri Lawyers Weekly first reported on the settlement.
The incident occurred in late 2016 at the Whiskey Tango bar in Grain Valley.
The sisters, Mariel and Audrey, asked that The Star use only their first names.
Audrey, in a statement through her attorney, said she and her sister were blindsided and continue to recover from the trauma of that night.
“I’m glad my clients can finally put this nightmare behind them,” Hinrichs said. “The last few years have been really difficult. This (settlement) has provided them some closure.”
The suit named E.I.E. LLC, the company doing business as Whiskey Tango, as a defendant. It also named five men who worked there or continue to work there: Shawn Brown, the owner of E.I.E.; Harley Jon Wayne Akin, a manager of security overseeing the bouncers; Michael Anthony Malick, a bouncer; Cody Reese Atchley, a bouncer; and Fredrick R. Failing, a bouncer.
Four of the men have pleaded guilty to criminal charges or face trial: Akin, Atchley, Malick and Failing. Brown was not charged.
The country bar, at 401 S. Outer Road, hosts poker, beer pong and flip cup tournaments, according to its website. It has a mechanical bull. Blake Shelton made an appearance there a few months before the women were wrongly imprisoned.
The website advertises the bar as the best nightclub in Kansas City and a top spot to meet people.
Around midnight on the night of the incident, the sisters were at a restaurant in a different city when an unknown woman bought a Bud Light with the counterfeit bill, the suit says.
About 90 minutes later, the sisters arrived at the bar with their cousins.
Around 3 a.m., shortly before the bar’s closing time, a man approached Mariel and accused her of using the fake bill. She adamantly denied the accusation, the suit says.
As the sisters left, multiple bouncers wearing skull or camouflage masks pursued them into the parking lot and “restricted them from leaving,” the suit and criminal records say.
Back in the bar, Akin accused Mariel of using the fake bill. Audrey grabbed Akin by the front of his shirt and told her sister to run, according to criminal records.
Mariel fled, dashing into the woods toward a gas station about a half-mile away.
Security supervisors Justin Wilson and Akin told Atchley, Malick and Failing to “pursue her,” the suit says.
Wilson was not criminally charged or named as a defendant in the suit.
As Audrey tried to leave, Akin “grabbed (her) and physically threw her against a wall. Then used metal handcuffs to affix Audrey to the wall. Audrey subsequently had a panic attack,” according to the suit.
Akin, Atchley, Malick and Failing piled into Whiskey Tango’s security truck to pursue Mariel. They caught up to her just before she reached the gas station. Failing, who was driving, blocked Mariel’s path to the station with the truck, according to the suit.
Akin, Malick and Atchley “jumped out … and tackled Mariel to the ground. They then proceeded to use zip ties to secure her wrists. They then carried her back to the search party truck and placed her in the back seat,” the suit says.
Mariel was “kicking and screaming” as they wrestled her back to the truck, according to criminal records.
A witness saw and intervened, helping the woman escape the truck. But Mariel was knocked to the concrete again and restrained with what felt like “metal clamps,” according to criminal records.
As she continued to yell for help, Mariel was forced into Akin’s lap in the truck. He wrapped his legs around hers and one of his arms pushed her shirt up. His hand held her between her breasts, and the “very angry grip” was so tight she couldn’t move her head, according to criminal records.
Mariel was shaking when they returned to the bar. Her ankles were bleeding. Akin called her a felon and said “running means you’re guilty,” according to criminal records.
She was handcuffed to the wall next to her sister, the suit says.
About an hour after the ordeal began, the women were released, Hinrichs said, and Audrey was forced to withdraw cash from an ATM to pay the men.
Police arrived at the bar, and the next day some of the bouncers agreed to speak with officers.
“The bouncers admitted to the conduct alleged by both sisters. They basically said they were just doing what their supervisor told them,” Hinrichs said.
The sisters suffered emotional distress, and Mariel suffered injuries to her wrists, ankles, head, back and neck that required medical treatment.
The suit claims Whiskey Tango bouncers never had any formal training and E.I.E. “provided bouncers with neoprene skulls masks for intimidation and zip ties to use on customers.”
Malick and Failing have pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, a misdemeanor. They were both sentenced to two years of probation.
Atchley and Akin are charged with felonious restraint. The crime carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
They have pleaded not guilty and await trials in the fall.
A call to the bar by The Star late Tuesday was quickly ended by the man who answered. On Wednesday, a man who didn’t give his name said Brown, the owner, wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t be reached.
Audrey, in her statement, thanked the Grain Valley Police Department, her family and friends, her attorneys and medical professionals for their support.
“I pray every day that what happened to me never happens to anyone else,” she said. “I want to send a message to all the women reading this article to always be careful, know (your) surroundings, always look for an emergency exit everywhere you go and most of all, never go out alone.”
Kansas.com
