Just one week after a District Court judge refused to dismiss a harassment lawsuit against the Crazy Horse Too topless bar, another example of alleged harassment by bar owner Frederick "Rick" Rizzolo toward his next door neighbor has been filed in District Court.
For the past two years, Rizzolo has allegedly been engaged in a campaign to force Buffalo Jim Barrier, the owner of Allstate Auto repair, to move for no compensation from his 11,000 square feet of leased space. Barrier has nine years remaining on his lease and has been in business at the Industrial Road location since 1976. Barrier pays forty-three cents per foot for his leasehold, well below market value, and says he has no intention of moving - especially without being compensated. Similar space in the Industrial Road area rents for over one dollar per foot.
Rizzolo needs Barrier's space so he can expand his business based on the Nevada Department of Transportation's recent announcement that Industrial Rd. is about to be widened and the front entrance and parking lot of the bar is about to be taken by eminent domain. To substantiate his claim of the bar's expansion plans, Barrier has submitted as evidence in his lawsuit architectural plans commissioned by Rizzolo showing expansion of the bar into Barrier's leased premises.
Because of what he calls "a pattern of abuse," Barrier filed the harassment lawsuit in May of this year to try to force Rizzolo to stop bothering his customers and employees and to compensate him for lost business and emotional distress.
In the complaint, Barrier's attorney Gus Flangas stated, "The said effort centers on a continued pattern of interference with Barrier's quiet enjoyment of their respective premises, interference with their respective businesses and harassment."
The most recent example of alleged harassment occurred on the evening of Tuesday, August 13 when Boulder City tow truck driver Lee DeBoer of Big John's Towing Service delivered a vehicle to Barrier's garage. Immediately following the vehicle being parked behind the garage, someone from the Crazy Horse allegedly had it towed away.
In Barrier's lease it states, "Landlord covenants that the common and parking areas shall be available for the non-exclusive use of tenant." The space from which the vehicle was towed was located immediately behind Barrier's garage and adjacent to the mechanic's work area - well within the common parking area according to Barrier.
In a notarized statement filed with the court, the tow truck driver stated, "I towed a 1985 Dodge van to 2480 Industrial Rd. on August 13, 2002. I parked the van in a legal parking space right in front of Allstate Auto's roll up back door in back west end of building at 6:15 PM. Van was legally parked in Allstate's space and was licensed and registered in the state of Nevada. Vehicle was in safe, legal parking place when I left."
The following morning after Barrier was informed that the vehicle had been delivered the night before, a common practice in the auto repair business, he discovered it had been removed at the behest of his next door neighbor. Barrier was then forced to retrieve the vehicle at a cost of $168.
Barrier told the Las Vegas Tribune that this action is just another in a long list of similar "tricks" he claims Rizzolo is using to persuade him to move out for free. Barrier has been documenting each event and told the Tribune, "Each successive incident will be entered into evidence to help the court see that Rizzolo is using dishonest tactics to expedite his bar’s expansion."
Barrier is seeking unspecified damages in his harassment suit. A trial date has not been set. Tribune calls to Mr. Rizzolo were not returned.
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