Two Showgirl Impersonators Arrested After Attack on Couple in Las Vegas
The victims, who were in town to get married, were attacked after a dispute over photo tips outside a casino.
Two women impersonating showgirls were arrested after allegedly attacking a couple on the Las Vegas Strip in a dispute over photo tips.
Jennifer Ortiz, 26, and Magdellena Romero, 43, were taken into custody following the Sept. 30 incident outside Paris Las Vegas, according to an arrest report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Eric Richards and his fiancée, Merihazel Walters, had come to Las Vegas to get married when they were approached by three women in showgirl costumes who offered to take photos, police said.
After Richards tipped the women $20, they demanded between $60 and $180 more, police said.
As the couple attempted to walk away, Ortiz followed them to Planet Hollywood and initiated the physical confrontation.
"Ortiz can be seen walking closely behind Richards and his (fiancée) before a brief altercation occurred where Richards and Ortiz can be seen swinging arms at each other," the report said.
According to police, Ortiz struck Richards multiple times, including with a high-heeled boot, causing a visible forehead gash.
When Walters tried to intervene, Romero tackled her, pulled her hair and hit her several times in the head and face with a closed fist, the arrest report said.
Richards then pushed Romero away.
Both victims were treated at the scene and declined transportation to a hospital.
Ortiz was arrested on suspicion of battery and obtaining money under false pretenses, while Romero was arrested on suspicion of battery.
Both are scheduled for a Dec. 3 status check.
Ortiz gave officers a different account, claiming the couple requested photos and then declined to provide a tip.
She told police that Richards punched her in the shoulder and that she removed her boots in an attempt to leave.
Romero told officers she intervened because she believed Ortiz was being attacked.
However, police wrote in their report that surveillance footage from nearby cameras confirmed Richards’ and Walters’ description of events.
Municipal Court records show Ortiz had previously been cited in a March 29 incident at the Fremont Street Experience.
Originally charged as affray and later amended to disturbing the peace, the citation resulted in a suspended 90-day jail sentence, a one-year stay-out-of-trouble order, and a requirement to complete an impulse-control class.
As officers detained Ortiz and Romero, another couple approached police and reported their own dispute with the same impersonators.
They told officers they agreed to pay $60 via a tap-to-pay app on Ortiz’s phone but were charged $218.
They said the performers later provided a nonworking phone number when confronted.
Costumed characters shaking tourists down for tips that are not negotiated in advance has become an unfortunately common nuisance on the Las Vegas Strip, though it is just as common in other U.S. tourist hubs such as Times Square and Hollywood Boulevard.
"I haven’t seen anybody really talk about this widely, but why not license street performers (on the Strip) at this point?" asked Shawn Coomer on the Oct. 6 installment of his Miles to Memories Vegas podcast.
Noting that Fremont Street regulates its street performers, he asked: "Why not… make them get a license, make them be responsible for what they charge and then make them disclose prices upfront?"
"I think it’s created a confrontational sort of atmosphere for tourists and I don’t think that’s a good thing for Las Vegas."
