An Ocala father claims he was assaulted by employees and patrons at a local bar who allegedly threatened his minor son for playing a “computer gaming machine” at the establishment.
Randle Sloan and his wife, Santa Lorenzo, filed the lawsuit against O’Malley’s Alley, Inc., in the fifth judicial circuit court of Marion County on October 27.
According to the complaint, the couple took their minor son, identified as “J.S.,” to O’Malley’s Alley in downtown Ocala “on or about” November 13, 2022.
Sloan and Lorenzo say they visited downtown Ocala on that day to “see the Christmas decorations” with their son. The couple says they decided to visit the bar “upon knowledge and belief” that the establishment served “both food and beverages.”
Sloan claims he entered the establishment, which is located at 24 SE Magnolia Avenue, with his son, J.S., without Lorenzo.
The complaint indicates that J.S. was “seated at the bar waiting for his turn to play on the computer gaming machine” and that Sloan was “sitting a couple of chairs down from him.”
Lorenzo allegedly entered the bar a few minutes later and “sat at a table close by where she could watch her son and husband.” After Lorenzo sat down, Sloan claims he exited the establishment for “a few minutes to observe the decorative lights displayed in the downtown area.”
When Sloan returned to the establishment, he claims he was “scolded by an employee” for being a “negligent father.” Sloan says the employee accused him of “leaving his son in the establishment alone.”
Sloan alleges that he “didn’t address the confrontation” and sat at “an empty chair at the bar, near his wife.” The couple was seated “a few spaces down from their son,” according to the complaint.
The family attempted to leave the bar a short time thereafter when they were allegedly prevented from leaving by an employee who “purposefully stood in the doorway blocking the exit,” according to the complaint.
Sloan claims the employee began to scold him again and proceeded to grab his son’s hand in an “attempt to take him back to the computer gaming machine at the bar.”
After the employee allegedly grabbed J.S.’s hand, Lorenzo “confronted the employee” and stated that “J.S. was her son.”
The complaint alleges that the employee then let go of J.S. and stated he was “going to call the police.”
Sloan claims that at that point, he told his wife to take his son and leave the establishment to avoid “seeing any confrontation.”
The complaint says that as Lorenzo left the establishment, “employees of O’Malley’s Alley along with patrons” proceeded to “physically assault and/or restrain Sloan by forcing him to the ground.”
The patrons at the bar were allegedly “asked by O’Malley’s Alley’s employees to intervene,” according to the complaint.
Sloan alleges that the assault caused “significant permanent loss of important bodily functions resulting in pain and suffering.”
The family is suing for false imprisonment, negligent supervision, and loss of consortium. They are seeking damages in excess of “$50,000, excluding interest, costs and attorney’s fees.”