Intersection

[Tort] Someone must pay

Where does accountability stop in the Minxx shooting?

Joshua Longobardy

Shit happens. And it happened in one of the severest ways to Tommy Urbanski at 5 a.m. on Monday, February 19 (the tail end of the NBA All-Star weekend), when he was struck at the Minxx Gentleman’s Club by a bullet that would leave him paralyzed from the waist down and thus strip him of his office as a bouncer. Now—of course—Urbanski wants someone to pay.

But not just anyone.

On October 19, his lawyer filed a lawsuit in Clark County district court seeking retribution for the injuries sustained by Urbanski. Only problem is, the person directly responsible for those injuries—the shooter—is unknown. And so, among the parties named, there is NFL defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones, who is widely said to have instigated the whole matter, and who signed an $8 million contract with the Tennessee Titans last year. There’s those same Titans, Jones’ employer, which, according to Forbes magazine’s 2007 National Football League valuations, possess a net worth of $922 million. There’s the actual NFL, which governs the Titans, and which, according to Forbes, signed television and promotional deals in 2006 worth $13.7 billion.

And then there are slots reserved for parties that might potentially be named at a later time. Such as, if Urbanski continues up the chain of indirect accountability, the National Basketball Association, which chose to hold its All-Star game and corresponding festivities in Las Vegas. Clark County, which permits strip bars to remain open and liquor to be sold at five in the morning. Or fate itself, which is ultimately responsible for allowing shit to happen.

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