[jefegelb]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: CA

Below is my e-mail of the event and the establishment's. Any responses?
My e-mail to club:

Several of us were playing bean bag toss at the end of the event.
Unfortunately, when the nightclub crew arrived to make it into a club,
one bouncer in particular began to harass people who were still
playing, including myself. I took out my phone to record the guy and
his actions. When he noticed this, he turned around and tried to
wrench the phone from my hand, breaking the top half from the bottom
half in the process.

We called the police, but as it was a Friday night, we were informed
that they would not be able to respond in a timely manner to a
non-emergency.

I will be filing a police report and will be including the name of at
least one witness.

It will cost me $57 to replace my phone. I am requesting that the
Aubergine compensate me for the cost of replacing my phone and the
time I have had to spend on this process. If my request is denied, I
will be forced to file a suit in small claims court, naming the club
and its staff.

I would also like to thank the female bartender who was working during
the event for her willingness to help me out, as she realized the
wrongfulness of the situation.

From nightclub:

While I apologize for the inconvienence, I have to say that I
whole-heartedly stand by my guards. Unfortunately the end of the event
caused a bit of chaos and in an attempt to regain order, a guard felt the
need to restrain a patron who was seen throwing bean bags inappropriately
(and potentially could have injured himself or someone else). During this
same time you were seen invading this particular guards personal space with
your phone near his face and consequently your phone was broken, in his
attempts to do his job.

Not only is this guard certified by the state of California in order to do
this job, but our head guard was also in the back and observed this entire
situation. While we are still looking into this situation, I cannot
guarantee any particular outcome. In the meantime, please provide me with
your mailing address, in the event that we do decide to absorb the cost of
your broken phone.

[LawResearcherMissy]

What is your question, exactly?

You've asked to be reimbursed for your phone, the club's owner has said "Maybe."

What is it that you want to know?

[cdwjava]

Don't count on a DA filing vandalism for what is, ostensibly, an accident. That's a civil issue. If you push an assault or battery claim, they may be able to come back with claims of their own ... perhaps trespassing and refusing to leave, or something else.

The "maybe" you received from the management seems the best avenue to pursue to obtain a replacement phone. They are making it clear they back their guard - no surprise. But, it also appears that they may acknowledge their liability for breaking the phone. I'd say there is at least a 50/50 chance of getting it replaced. That's better odds that you'd probably get if you tried to have him prosecuted. Then, of course, there is always small claims court as well.

- Carl