A New York casino that overpaid a bettor cashing out her winnings has now been sued by the patron, claiming her reputation has been tarnished among other damages.
Miranda Sanders was wagering at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Feb. 15, 2021, before she saw a cashier to claim her winnings. She then received $850 more than what she was owed. But the cashier dismissed it after Sanders tried pointing out the error. Yet a police warrant went out for her arrest as she failed to return the winnings.
Sanders turned herself into the Saratoga Springs Police Department on Oct. 21, 2021. Hours later, she pleaded not guilty in court.
On Nov. 4, Sanders filed a lawsuit against the NY casino, the city, a police officer and two casino employees. Sanders seeks no less than $1 million in damages. She claims a false arrest and lost business at her butcher shop. Sanders also said the arrest caused anxiety, and the situation as a whole has damaged her reputation.
Timeline leading to NY casino patron’s arrest
A lot happened between the day Sanders was overpaid at Saratoga Casino to when she turned herself into city police.
According to The Daily Gazette, after Sanders informed the cashier of receiving too much, casino employee Eileen Cotter contacted Sanders. Cotter told Sanders she was right, and she need to return the money.
On March 1, 2021, 16 days after the incident, Sanders went back to the casino to meet with director of security Edward Moore. Sanders claims to have waited a lengthy period of time to see him. As a result, she left before speaking with the security director spoke.
Then on March 5, the lawsuit states that Moore filed a report on the situation to Saratoga Springs police. In the meantime, Sanders continued fielding calls from the casino. She opted to hire a lawyer to get her story in order should it become a legal matter.
Four days after Moore filed the report, police officer Kristopher Camarro had a taped conversation with Joseph Fradino, assistant district attorney for Saratoga County. During their talk, Fradino told the officer that Sanders did nothing wrong and couldn’t be charged with a crime.
Court documents state Camarro agreed. But on March 13, the police officer told Sanders she would be charged if the money wasn’t given back.
Saratoga Springs police file warrant for Sanders’ arrest
Despite Camarro agreeing that Sanders did nothing wrong, he still drafted a complaint and issued a warrant for her arrest. Police executed the warrant on April 13, 2021, and again on June 24, 2021.
According to court documents regarding the warrant:
“Both warrants were issued with knowledge that probable cause that a crime was committed was wholly lacking.
“In addition, Officer Camarro deliberately failed to inform the Honorable Jeffrey Wait, Judge of Saratoga Springs City Court, that the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office has told officer Camarro that he could not charge Ms. Sanders under the circumstances and that no crime had been committed.”
Sanders decided to avoid being arrested by police and opted to turn herself in on October 21, 2021. She said she suffered humiliation and embarrassment by the situation. Police later dropped her charges in January 2022.
According to the lawsuit, Sanders had two of her constitutional rights broken, and the police department is at fault for failing to properly train, supervise and discipline its officers.
