New Orleans Saints star running back Alvin Kamara was one of several men who fractured a man’s eye socket in a brawl at a Las Vegas nightclub a day before playing in the Pro Bowl, according to a police report issued by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Shortly before 6 p.m. on Feb. 5, a Las Vegas Metro detective was dispatched to Sunrise Hospital for an interview with alleged victim Darnell Greene, who had been partying at Drai’s After Hours, a club at the Cromwell Casino along the Strip. At the hospital, Greene was “still shaken up and in pain,” the report says.
Greene said he was leaving the club around 6:30 a.m. Saturday and made his way to the elevators, according to the report.
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“There was a group of people waiting as he started a conversation with one of them,” it says. “As soon as the elevator opened, Greene and the large party he was speaking with began walking towards the open elevator doors.”
It was then that a man—who would later be identified as Kamara—”put his hand on Greene’s chest[,] stopping him from walking into the elevator,” the report continues.
Greene pushed Kamara’s hand off his chest, at the same time getting “pushed hard causing himself to stumble back.”
“After Greene was pushed, he states he was being hit and kicked by multiple people and losses [sic] consciousness,” says the report. “The only one that Greene can remember is described as a black male in his 20’s, he was approximately 5’10, muscular and had either dreadlocks or braided hair. The suspect was wearing either a gray shirt or gray sweater.”
Doctors told Greene he had “sustained an orbital fracture” of his right eye, and said he may need surgery, the report states, adding that Greene’s eye was swollen to the point that he could not open it.
Greene has since been released from the hospital, a Sunrise official told The Daily Beast.
In the meantime, investigators reviewed security video from Drai’s. According to ESPN, the footage showed Kamara punch Greene roughly eight times, including three times after he was already on the floor. That’s when three others from Kamara’s group allegedly “began stomping [Greene] in the face, chest and legs,” the outlet reported.
Kamara was not arrested prior to the Pro Bowl game because of “a delay in reporting due to the victim receiving treatment and that the incident had occurred approximately 10 hours prior,” Las Vegas Metro PD spokesman Officer Larry Hadfield told The Daily Beast. “It was known that he would be participating in the Pro Bowl and was interviewed at Allegiant Stadium after the game. Subsequently he was arrested and transported to the Clark County Detention Center.”
During the interview, Det. Austin Bone asked “if he knew why we were there talking with him,” he wrote in his affidavit. “Kamara stated he knew why and told us what happened.”
The report says Kamara told cops that he had been at Drai’s with his girlfriend, his assistant, and a couple of friends. While waiting for the elevator, Greene called one of the people in Kamara’s entourage “ugly,” he claimed.
“I’ll whoop your ass too,” Greene then allegedly told Kamara, who said he “saw a fight break out next to him and he saw Greene get punched.”
Kamara said he “threw a couple punches, thinking the guy was running away,” and claimed not to remember if he hit Greene while he was down. However, Kamara’s version of events didn’t match what investigators saw on tape, according to the police report.
“The video disputes this[,] showing that Greene was not running away but had in fact just been punched by Kamara’s associates and then Kamara immediately attacked him,” the report concludes.
Kamara was then arrested and booked on one charge of battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. He was released after posting $5,000 bail.
A Drai’s manager hung up the phone immediately when contacted by The Daily Beast for comment. Citing confidentiality, Brooks Brothers Bail Bonds, the outfit that got Kamara sprung from jail on Sunday, would not discuss any particulars of the case.
Kamara and Greene were unable to be reached for comment.
Kamara, 26, caught four passes for 23 yards during the game, his fifth Pro Bowl in five NFL seasons. He was scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court on Monday, with another appearance set for March 8.
