CHARLESTON – A man is suing Capitol City Broadway after he claims he was attacked at a nightclub.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company was also named as a defendant in the suit.
On Dec. 3, Jerry Jones and Austin Layman were at the Broadway nightclub in Charleston when another patron, Toney Smith, approached Layman and made romantic advances toward him, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Jones claims Layman told Smith he was not interested, at which point Smith became angry and started verbally abusing Layman. Hearing this, the plaintiff asked Smith to leave Layman alone.
Smith responded with another angry outburst, this time directed toward the plaintiff, and Smith made several threats of violence toward the plaintiff and tried to physically attack him, according to the suit.
Jones claims Broadway employees overheard the threats by Smith and witnessed him trying to attack him and he was then removed from the bar by the employees.
The following evening, Jones and Layman returned to Broadway and asked the bouncer, who had been the one to throw Smith out the night before, if he would be allowed to return and were informed he was not allowed back into Broadway, according to the suit.
Jones claims nevertheless, later that evening, they saw Smith at the bar, staring at them.
Later in the evening, without warning, Smith attacked Jones with a box cutter and brutally stabbed and slashed him several times. He then fled the scene, according to the suit.
Jones claims an ambulance was called and he was rushed to the hospital, where he was required to undergo emergency surgery.
Broadway owed Jones a duty of care and was negligent in failing to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe manner, according to the suit.
Smith was later arrested and indicted on attempted murder and malicious wounding charges.
Jones is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is being represented by Russell A. Williams of Katz Kantor Stonestreet & Buckner.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Tod J. Kaufman.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 17-C-1224