After Saints running back Alvin Kamara and three others were indicted by a grand jury in Las Vegas on Thursday over a brawl that occurred during the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl weekend, video surveillance footage of the scuffle has been released.
The footage, obtained by 8 News Now, shows the incident taking place in a hallway outside an elevator at Drai’s After Hours nightclub, which is in the basement of the Cromwell Hotel & Casino.
Kamara, along with Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chris Lammons and two other men, Christopher Young and Percy Harris, face criminal charges in relation to the incident on Feb. 5, 2022. The four suspects face charges of conspiracy to commit battery and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm, per court documents — which identify Harris as Kamara’s manager.
The victim, Darnell Greene, filed a civil lawsuit in Louisiana, alleging he suffered an orbital fracture and other injuries, which caused him to have shoulder surgery. Greene is seeking $10 million in damages.
A court date on the matter has been set for March 2.
Greene told Las Vegas Metro police that on the night of the incident, he was waiting outside an elevator at Drai’s nightclub, where a group of people were also present, including the four suspects.
A police report filed shortly after the incident stated that Kamara put his hand on the victim’s chest to stop him from entering the elevator as the door opened.
“Once the elevator came down I went to step on the elevator and a guy put his hands on my, on my chest like to tell me, like push me back and tell me I can’t get on the elevator,” Greene told the grand jury.
“And I, um, you know, I go there, it’s not my first time there, I’ve been there a few times and everybody use [sic] the same elevator. So, when he pushed me I pushed his hands down off of my chest and then he pushed me real hard and then somebody hit me.”
After that, police said Lammons punched Greene and knocked him back against a wall. Greene told the grand jury he then fell unconscious and does not remember anything else.
The grand jury indictment said Lammons hit “Greene in the head, neck or upper chest” and that Kamara then “charged [Greene] in order to strike and/or punch [him] about the head, neck, chest, upper back, and/or torso area.”
The four suspects then left the scene in a limo belonging to Kamara, according to the outlet — which reported that a recording from inside the limo captured Kamara telling the group: “I connected with the [expletive]’s jaw so hard.”
Kamara’s attorneys, David Chesnoff, Drew Findling and Richard Schonfeld, said in a statement last week that their client was acting in self-defense.
“The state has avoided a contested preliminary hearing by indicting Mr. Kamara,” his attorneys said. “He intends to vigorously fight the allegations at trial as he was defending himself and others at the time of the incident.”
Las Vegas Metro police detectives identified the four suspects after they received a copy of Kamara’s VIP receipt, the court documents said.
An NFL spokesperson declined to comment on the video’s release, according to 8 News Now.
Kamara was selected in the the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft by New Orleans and has played for the team ever since. This past season, he recorded 1,387 total rushing and receiving yards and four touchdowns.