While Navy SEALs are dying heroically in Afghanistan and putting Osama bin Laden on ice, one of their former colleagues has been trying to beat the rap for a rampage of random violence he conducted on the Las Vegas Strip. Not to exculpate the seaman in question but who the bloody hell was minding the store at Tao when he was served 18 drinks over a five-hour period? (Not “eight or nine” as the assailant claimed.) Did nobody notice that his bar tab was getting somewhat elongated or that he’d consumed enough booze to float a battleship? Vegas is synonymous with excess, but there’s excess and then there’s flat-out irresponsibility. Luke Shawley may be headed for the brig but someone at Tao should be getting the boot. Oh, and where, oh where, the frak was casino security, especially when Shawley’s rampage spilled into back-of-house areas? Pink-slipped to save money, that’s probably where they were. As for Shawley, he’s using the old “somebody put something in my drink” excuse. Yeah, it’s called Red Bull and 10 bucks says you drank at least a 12-pack of it, sir. Too bad for you there’s no bottle service in the Big House.
Less clear-cut is the ongoing legal brawl between Charlotte Bobcats Assistant Coach Charles Oakley and MGM Resorts International. As has been periodically reported, there was a spot of unpleasantness between Oakley and security staff poolside at Aria 15 months ago. According to Oakley, the Paul Blart Squad at Aria put a “gang-style beatdown” on him. (At least we know where security was that time.) The rent-a-cops’ more detailed account paints Oakley as yet another over-entitled casino VIP player. They add that Oakley’s celebrity status enabled him to avoid criminal charges. What? District Attorney David Roger giving celebs favorable treatment? Surely that would never happen!
Geez, it’s getting so that you can’t take a leak at Liquid in peace anymore.
