MIAMI BEACH, FLA. – A surveillance camera captured the owner of a Miami Beach lounge allegedly attacking a hotel employee, and both the alleged attacker and the victim spoke about the ordeal.
The attack happened on the morning of March 3 at the Clinton Hotel, along the 800 block of Washington Avenue. Sameh Akladyous said he was working the front desk when a man attacked him.
“I was scared. I didn’t know what he was going to do,” Akladyous said. “I feel like, I don’t– I’m in trouble.”
Akladyous said the man who is seen coming behind the counter and getting violent is Mandy Calara, the owner of Voodoo Lounge on South Beach. He added that he feared for his life.
“I felt his arm around my neck and squeeze,” he said. “I was almost in shock. I couldn’t breathe. I felt, ‘I’m gonna die. I’m dead.’”
According to Akladyous, the incident began when Calara came to the hotel and asked for a key to his friend’s room. When he told Calara he could not provide one because he was not a registered guest, Akladyous said Calara became verbally aggressive.
“I’m trying to keep him calm, but he does not stop,” he said.
The hotel’s video camera does not have sound, but Akladyous said he recorded audio of what happened on his phone.
In the audio provided, someone can be heard using profanity, appearing to talk about Akladyous’ income and question his immigration status.
“Maybe $28,000 a year, right? I know, I know who you are. I know you, you [expletive] moron,” the man said. “You don’t even have [expletive] papers here you [expletive] idiot.”
Akladyous said he called 911 twice, and the second time is when, he said, Calara got physical.
Eventually, Akladyous said his attacker went to leave, but when he tried to get a photo of his license plate, he was attacked again.
A recent photograph of the hotel clerk’s back shows numerous injuries that remain over a week after the attack.
Police later reached Calara over the phone, and he was arrested when he came back to the hotel. When he left the jail after posting bond, he said, “I’m going to get an attorney and go through a little bit more of the details later.”
Calara’s attorneys sent a statement to 7News that reads:
“He got locked out of a room, left his phone inside and went to the front desk for help. Instead of hospitality, he got hostility. The alleged victim came from behind the desk, put a badge in his face, claimed to be a cop and told him to leave. This led to the altercation you see in the video provided by the alleged victim. He conveniently left out what happened before and added audio, which, we believe, is not genuine and being used to enhance his civil lawsuit.”
Akladyous claims he never said he was a police officer, and instead, he said he showed Calara a private investigator badge.
The hotel clerk said he developed a stutter after the incident, and he is trying to recover both physically and mentally.
