Milwaukee man pepper-sprayed by security guard at Buffalo Wild Wings files lawsuit
Milwaukee WS March 13 2020
A Milwaukee father says he was racially discriminated against when an unlicensed private security guard shoved and pepper-sprayed him as he tried to buy dinner for his daughter at a Glendale restaurant, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Najjar Abdullah Jr. was immediately confronted by the security guard, Grant M. Nelson, when he and his daughters walked into the Buffalo Wild Wings at Bayshore to place a to-go order Sept. 7, 2018, the lawsuit says.
At the time, Nelson’s private security license was expired, but he still was working for Meress & Associates LLC, according to state and legal records.
Nelson also had a pending criminal case for possessing a gun while intoxicated, which he later pleaded down to disorderly conduct.
Abdullah, a married father of four who works as a city forester in Milwaukee and has his own landscaping business, said he is filing the lawsuit so “no one else gets put in this situation.”
“I was treated unfairly,” he said in an interview.
Abdullah’s rights were violated, said his attorney, Mark Thomsen of Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs.
“When an institution opens their doors to the public, they have to treat everybody equally,” Thomsen said. “And when a private business fails to protect that person and allows a white guard to assault and push him and then pepper-spray him, and then lie to the police and get him arrested, that business has to be accountable.”
The lawsuit alleges racial discrimination and negligence against the restaurant and the private security firm and names Inspire Brands Inc. for Buffalo Wild Wings, security firm Meress and Associates LLC and insurers for both companies. The suit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Nelson said he could not speak to a reporter without first getting permission from his employer and did not specify which employer that was.
Tim Burch, owner of Meress and Associates, said he had no comment Wednesday, and representatives with Inspire Brands did not immediately respond to an email.
‘I hope this guy doesn’t attack me’
According to the lawsuit, an interview with Abdullah and partial video of the encounter:
Abdullah, then 44, picked up his 15-year-old daughter from a high school football game about 9 p.m. Sept. 7, 2018.
He and his 21-year-old daughter had already eaten, but his youngest needed dinner, so he decided to order from Buffalo Wild Wings.
When he and his daughters walked in the restaurant, Nelson stepped up to him and said customers had to be 21 to enter. Abdullah’s youngest daughter went back out the door and waited in an alcove.
Abdullah told Nelson he wanted to place a to-go order and began heading to the front desk, where the manager was. Abdullah asked to speak with the manager, who agreed, and the two began to walk toward the door.
But Nelson intervened, saying the manager was staying in the restaurant and pushing Abdullah in the chest. The lawsuit alleges the manager “failed to intervene and control Nelson.”
As Abdullah said he only wanted to speak with the manager, Nelson pushed him again, pepper-sprayed him in the face and called him a “smart-mouth (expletive).”
Then, Nelson threatened to pepper-spray Abdullah’s daughter who had remained in the restaurant.
“I hope this guy doesn’t attack me,” Abdullah remembers thinking. “I can’t see anything. It’s hard to breathe. … I was hoping that that was all he was going to do, because I knew he had that firearm.”
As Abdullah and his daughter walked outside, Nelson followed them and called Glendale police.
Police arrested Abdullah, took him to the police station and gave him a disorderly conduct ticket. A judge dismissed the citation earlier this year.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Abdullah said in an interview. “It was just kind of surreal. I couldn’t believe what was happening.”
Abdullah said the experience left his youngest daughter feeling fearful of anyone in uniform and his older daughter angry at them.
It was not clear from public records when Nelson began working for Meress and Associates LLC based in Germantown. The company is owned by Burch, who has prior law enforcement experience with the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, according to the firm’s website.
Three months before the confrontation at BW3, Nelson was arrested in the Town of Waukesha after a single-car crash. He admitted to drinking alcohol and said he did not know where he was, telling the deputy: “Just put me in cuffs, man. I’m (expletive),” according to a criminal complaint.
He had three guns in his vehicle and his blood-alcohol level tested at 0.19 — more than twice the level considered proof of intoxication in Wisconsin, the complaint says.
As part of his pretrial release conditions, Nelson was not allowed to use or possess firearms, except when he was working, court records show.
He was charged with having a gun while intoxicated but pleaded guilty to an amended charge of disorderly conduct. He received one year of probation.
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