Are we properly vetting & training our security guards and police officers making sure we are not hiring aggressive or power-hungry tyrants or individuals with anger issues? Are we evaluating the mental health of those that we put in these positions of power? Are we reevaluating them through the course of their employment? Sadly, probably not or not enough.  

I can remember a time back around 2009 when security guard and Police Officer Gentry LVMPD put me in a chokehold at Piranha Nightclub causing me to pass out briefly in front of nightclub owner Jerry. Everything went black. When I came through, I asked him why he did that and he didn’t have a good reason. I would recently learn that it’s not normal for police officers with LVMPD to work as nightclub security on the side.

How long does it take for a chokehold to kill someone? I can’t imagine much longer than it took for me to pass out. 

How long did it take for 26-year-old Peter James Lawrence to die at the hands of the bouncers of Krave Nightclub on November 12, 2004? A medical examiner determined that Lawrence died as a result of asphyxia due to neck compression.

Why are there so many questions left unanswered 15 years later? Why was nobody held accountable for his death? If the security guard didn’t have proper training then the nightclub should be held responsible, right? If someone is acting up at a grocery store and a random person puts them in a chokehold till they die, justice will prevail, right?  

On January 19, 2005, Phil Lobel with Lobeline PR would arrange a press release on behalf of Krave Nightclub owner Sia Amiri stating, “Detective Barry Jensen contacted us today to say there is insufficient evidence of any wrongdoing by anyone at Krave in the unfortunate death of Mr. Lawrence.” The release stated that the DA exonerated Krave Nightclub and a “coroner’s autopsy indicated high levels of drugs and alcohol in his system.” 

Two years later, KLAS reported conflicting information stating a toxicology report showed absolutely NO drugs or alcohol in his system. This news report showed new video evidence. Two years later? Was it being withheld? Jelena Basic begged for justice for her, her fiancée and his baby.

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In a video broadcast by KLAS on January 25, 2007 she compared the investigation and fight for justice in Las Vegas to her homeland of communist Russia, 

Peter Lawrence will never be forgotten. #gayvegas pic.twitter.com/LB7TwxmjTC

— Johnny Bacon (@johnnybacon) October 23, 2019

“It really does, like powerful people pulling strings, doing things, covering things up. I’m like I can’t believe it’s happening in America. No! Not in the land of opportunity! The land of dreams! We have an eyewitness! Why are they telling us that the palm trees blocking the view? They have an eyewitness! That’s enough!” 

On February 7, 2007, in a KLAS report, Deputy District Attorney Scott Mitchell decided to not press charges despite the new video showing Lawrence being choked. Claiming, “it would have been too difficult to prove the bouncer had a criminal disregard of the consequences of choking Lawrence.”

On May 11, 2007, the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote an article about “controversial” civil rights attorney James Myart who was fighting to represent five families that had loved ones who were killed by security guards or police. He was seeking approval from the court to take on this case. It’s unclear if anything ever came of that. 

In 2016, according to The San Antonio Current, Myart was arrested for outstanding traffic tickets and a police officer dumped him out of a wheelchair, lifting up the chair handles. One of the officers was fired following the incident, a lawsuit was filed. 

He told the San Antonio Current, “They don’t like me. I’ve been suing the city police for over 30 years. All of them know me.”

It’s unclear if Jelena Basic or Myart ever found justice for the death of 26-year-old Peter James Lawrence.