The Seminole Casino has been in operation since 2012.
A man was stabbed in the Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek, Florida on early on Monday morning. The man was rushed to the hospital after the fight and is listed in stable condition. The altercation did not involve gamblers at the Seminole Casino.
The two men involved in the fight worked for a cleaning service which has a contract to clean NYY Steak, a restaurant inside the Seminole Casino. The men were in the midst of cleaning NYY Steak at around 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, when they had an argument.
From early statements, neither man was an employee of the casino, but affiliated with a sub-contracted cleaning service. Florida is not a unionized state.
Violent Altercation between Employees
The argument escalated into a physical fight, according to the Coconut Creek Police Department. At some point in the fight, one of the men draw a knife and stabbed the other worker.
The victim of the knifing suffered a puncture wound to his abdoment. He was later taken to the North Broward Hospital in stable condition, according to the CCPD. The man with the knife was identified by multiple people on the scene and arrested by police. He was charged with aggravated battery.
Aggravated Battery in Florida
In Florida, aggravated battery is described as “the intentional touching of another person with the intent to inflict great bodily harm or to use a deadly weapon”. Aggravated battery also applies when the battered person is known to be pregnant.
The penalty for aggravated battery is a mandatory prison sentence up up to 15 years or more. The harshness of the sentence depends on the application of Florida’s 10-20-Life law.
10-20-Life Provisions
While the 10-20-Life law was designed mainly for gun crimes, it also has provisions for minimal prison sentences in the case of violent career criminals, habitual felony offenders, three-time violent felony offenders, prison release reoffender, and similar cases. If the assailant belongs under any of these classifications, then his prison sentence could be for decades, if convicted.
Police still have not released word on the identity of the victim or his assailant. Those details might never be known to the public at large, at least until the trial. The Seminole Casino is not likely to want a lot of publicity around a stabbing at their business, while the people involved are neither staff members or customers.
Arson Incident in April
This is not the first violent incident at Seminole Casino this year. On April 23, a 43-year old man got into an argument with a female patron at the casino. He was escorted from the premises by casino security, but returned around midnight with an orange juice container full of gasoline.
The man placed the container in the entranceway of the casino, then lit it on fire. He was arrested by Coconut Creek police on one count of first-degree arson.
About Seminole Casino
Seminole Casino is a 100,000 square foot casino in Coconut Creek which opened in February 2012. The Seminole Casino has 2300 gaming machines, 66 table games, and 29 poker tables. The casino is open 24/7. The complex has 6 restaurants, including the NYY Steakhouse.
Coconut Creek is part of the Miami metropolitan area. It is located west of Pompano Beach and east of Coral Springs, north of Fort Lauderdale-Sunrise and south of Boca Raton. Coconut Creek is a city of 55,000 people.
The Seminole Tribe owns 6 casinos throughout Florida. Three are in the Miami area: The Hard Rock Hotel, Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek, and the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The tribe also owns the Casino Hotel Immokalee on the Gulf Coast, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, and the Casino Brighton in Okeechobee.
