Bouncers And The Beatdown

Nearly a dozen bouncers working at Club Mansion in Miami’s South Beach area are accused of brutally assaulting three students from the University of Delaware after a dispute over a bill, according to Miami police.

Sean Sweeney, Trevor Costello and John Merryman, who were on vacation in Florida for spring break, were "knocked to the ground and struck upon the head and body with closed fists, kicked via feet and held down," according to a police report, which also noted the entire event was captured on surveillance video.

Miami police, who were apparently tipped off about the fight by an employee of the club, responded to the incident just as the three men escaped through a side door, according to the Miami Herald. The police took 11 employees into custody.

Kevin Dennis, lawyer for the one of the victims, told the Herald the three men arrived at the club, asked to sit in the VIP section and, per the required "table service," bought a bottle of alcohol.

Dennis relayed the following account of events to the Herald:

After two hours at the table, the students were approached by a waitress and told they had to vacate their table for other customers and that the tab was $700.

When the three asked to see the bill, the waitress refused, Dennis said. A bouncer allegedly approached the table and asked if there was a problem and the three asked for a written copy of the bill and were again denied.

A third person approached the table and asked the victims to come to an office in the back, which was filled with bouncers. When the students refused to pay without seeing a tab, the bouncers began the beating, Dennis told the Herald.

When the students agreed to pay the bill with a credit card, they were told that Costello and Sweeney could leave but Merryman had to stay because the bouncers weren’t through with him.

The pair refused to leave and another round of beatings ensued, until the trio was finally able to escape.

Dennis told the paper he intends to sue Club Mansion and its parent company, The Opium Group, which released the following statement: "We are continuing to work closely with police regarding these unsubstantiated claims, and cannot comment further as police have not concluded their investigation."