NFL Star Accused in Nightclub Beating

WASHINGTON (CN) - An NFL player and a DC Metro cop beat up two security workers as they kicked the football player and his posse out of a nightclub for smoking marijuana, the two men claim in court.

Owen Collier Jr. and Anthony Smart sued LaQuan Williams, then a Baltimore Raven; Metro police Officer Anthony McRae and the District of Columbia in Superior Court, alleging assault and battery, negligence and civil rights violations.

Collier and other security staff were working at the Stadium Nightclub on June 23 this year. "At about 2.40 a.m. the host for the evening, defendant LaQuan Williams, a member of the Baltimore Ravens, and his entourage of some 30 persons, were asked to leave the premises because they were smoking marijuana and other illegal substances inside the club," the complaint states.

"They were escorted outside into the parking lot area by the club's security personnel where defendant LaQuan Williams assaulted and battered a member of the security team, plaintiff Anthony Smart. Other members of defendant Williams' entourage then attacked security personnel who attempted to assist Mr. Smart."

The plaintiffs claim Officer McRae saw the melee and ran into the parking lot wielding a baton, with other officers.

"Plaintiff Collier was assaulted and struck with a baton wielded by defendant MPD Officer Anthony McRae in his right eye, causing him serious injuries, including, but not limited to, a traumatic brain injury," the complaint states.

The security guards say they were severely injured during the fracas, suffering injuries ranging from bruises to the traumatic brain injury.

Williams, who was released from the Ravens this year, signed with the New England Patriots as a wide receiver.

Collier and Smart want $6 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages.

They are represented by Geoffrey Allen.

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