The Nevada Supreme Court unanimously upheld the verdict in the Pacman Jones case, meaning the Cincinnati Bengals DB has to pay over $12 million to two victims in damages for his role in a shooting outside a strip club in 2007.
Pacman and his entourage were partying at Minxx strip club in Las Vegas during NBA All-Star weekend in ’07 when the incident occurred. Jones had $100,000 in cash at the club and broke out $40,000 to “make it rain” by showering the strippers with money. Jones says he intended the action just to be a visual effect and didn’t want the strippers keeping all the money. He apparently got into a fight with one of them after the dancers began picking all of it up.
Pacman and his entourage were kicked out of the club, and moments later gunshots were fired. Three people were wounded, including bouncer Thomas Urbanski and security officer Aaron Cudworth. Urbanski was paralyzed as a result of the shooting and was awarded nearly $11 million by a jury. Cudworth was awarded around $1.3 million.
Jones appealed the verdict but it was upheld by the state supreme court.
What is interesting is that Jones was not the person who shot the victims. That was his associate, Arvin Edwards, who later pleaded guilty via an Alford plea to one count of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon.
Jones was later proved culpable for starting the incident.
The victims also sued the NFL for negligence in hiring Pacman, but that was dismissed.
Below is a video recapping the whole strip club incident:
