In the Final Fight and Street Fighter II video games, there is a bonus stage during which you beat up a car. I would imagine this would be great fun in real life, even more so if you inexplicably turned into a panther afterward like at the end of Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” video. I can’t say I often have the burning desire to destroy things, but seeing as I have been in a number of casinos in my life, I can certainly understand why someone might occasionally want to take a whack at a slot machine. And apparently that’s something that happens with some regularity at Resorts World Casino in Queens. Unfortunately for one man, the casino thinks he was going for a video game bonus round when he claims he was not.
Taken to the “back room”
The New York Post reports that Bronx resident and a regular high roller at Resorts World, Pren Mrijaj, was accused of breaking a slot machine at the casino in 2018. According to a lawsuit he filed, he was playing roulette last year when casino security guards “dragged” him to the basement.
They told him that he broke a slot machine, but would not furnish any evidence except for their word. After several hours, police came and arrested Mrijaj, but the case was eventually dismissed.
Casino played coy, got him to return
Despite that terrible experience, Mrijaj decided he wanted to gamble at Resorts World again over a year later. He called the casino to verify that he would be allowed entry; he was apparently told that there was no problem.
So, Mrijaj returned to the casino and had a great night at the slots, winning $5,000.
That was where is great night ended, though. Security once again escorted him to the basement, where they told him he owed $1,600 for the slot machine they alleged he broke in 2018. He ended up paying. The article does not explain why he paid for the slot machine, but one would assume it was so he would be allowed to go home.
In his lawsuit, Mrijaj alleges that “At least 150 people have been improperly detained by Casino personnel.”
Breaking slot machines is a thing
The Queens District Attorney’s office told the Post that there have been 493 for criminal mischief at that casino since it opened in 2011, many of which were for damaging slot machines.
It is the glass front of the slot machine that is most often broken.
“If a person gets mad, they hit it with their bag or punch it with their fists and break it,” casino security expert Alan Zajic told the Post.
Zajic added that this behavior is much more common on the East Coast than in Las Vegas, for some reason.
Resorts World gave no comment to the Post on the allegations.