Patrick Carroll’s affinity for guns is causing more trouble.
Last summer, following a Los Angeles court hearing on his pending felony charges, including carrying a loaded firearm, Carroll allegedly held his own bodyguards hostage at gunpoint, according to a new lawsuit.
The alleged July 30 incident was not reported to Los Angeles Police, but Filberto Clemente and Jessie Davis assert in their complaint that Carroll allegedly threatened to shoot one of them as they drove the multifamily mogul home following an alleged liquor-fueled, racial-slur-filled bender.
The duo, who worked as Carroll’s private security detail, sued him in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Jan. 24 for civil assault, battery, false imprisonment, wrongful termination and creating a hostile work environment, among other counts. They are seeking an unspecified amount of lost income, compensatory and punitive damages. In their lawsuit, Clemente and Davis cite two other pending civil complaints against Carroll in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Carroll, who a few months ago went public with his diagnosis of mental illness, responded through his lawyer, Andrew Brettler, whose client roster includes Hollywood actors Chris Noth and Danny Masterson, as well as Prince Andrew.
“This lawsuit and the others are nothing more than a coordinated effort by a group of individuals looking to exploit our client’s severe mental health episode for their own financial gain,” Brettler said via an emailed statement. “None of the suits have merit; we expect them all to be dismissed.”
Carroll has gotten away with reckless behavior without any consequences, said Justin Sanders, the lawyer for Clemente and Davis, in an emailed statement.
“Patrick Carroll’s alleged actions toward Mr. Clemente and Mr. Davis that day were horrifying and outrageous,” Sanders said. “It is time to hold him accountable.”
Raging across Los Angeles
Clemente, a Mexican-American who served in the U.S. Air Force and worked as a federal police officer, and Davis, a Black former U.S. Army infantryman and military police officer, were at Carroll’s side when he left his Miami Beach home to live in Los Angeles for a few months last year, the complaint states.
“During the employment, Carroll exerted control over the work schedule and job duties of Filiberto and Jessie,” the lawsuit states. “For example, when Carroll wanted to eat, he directed Filbert and Jessie to drive him to a restaurant and sit with him. No matter the day of week or time of day, Carroll exercised complete direction over the movements and working hours of the plaintiffs.”
Carroll allegedly repeatedly made racial slurs about minorities, including calling Black people the “N word” and describing Clemente as a “stupid ass short brown person,” according to the complaint.
On July 30, Carroll appeared in Los Angeles criminal court for a preliminary hearing on two felony charges of eluding police and carrying a loaded gun in public. Earlier that month, he was arrested after he led Los Angeles law enforcement officers on a chase and then attempted to flee on foot.
Later that evening following the hearing, Clemente and Davis shadowed Carroll to three trendy Hollywood restaurants: Craig’s, Catch and Chateau Marmont, the complaint states. At one of the hotspots, Carroll allegedly “drank an excessive amount of tequila and began throwing money at patrons.”
The wild night raged on as Carroll and his bodyguards went to Body Shop, a Sunset Boulevard strip club, the lawsuit states. Clemente and Davis alleged that events started going south when Carroll allegedly refuted a credit card charge in exchange for cash to tip the exotic dancers.
“When the Body Shop’s employees walked over to Carroll to provide him with the bill, he denied ordering the cash and became enraged,” the complaint states. “Carroll called the [strip club’s] head of security a ‘Fat N—er.’ Carroll subsequently stormed out of the club with his security in tow.”
While driving Carroll back to his Los Angeles home, Carroll allegedly pulled out a gun inside a bag that Clemente handed over to him, the lawsuit states. Carroll then allegedly pointed the firearm at Davis, who was behind the wheel.
“Carroll demanded that they give him their cell phones so they would be unable to call law enforcement,” the complaint alleges. “Jessie and Filiberto complied with Carroll’s order, fearing for their physical safety.”
When they dropped Carroll off, he allegedly warned them again not to call the police, the lawsuit states.
The duo subsequently quit their jobs because of the hostile work environment, the lawsuit states. Their complaint alleges that their resignations amounted to a wrongful termination because “these working conditions were so intolerable that a reasonable person in Filiberto and/or Jessie’s position would have had no reasonable alternative except to resign.”
Carroll’s past actions and disclosure of mental illness
The lawsuit also noted Carroll’s recent history of allegedly mistreating restaurant service workers and his own staff, including a defamation complaint in Miami-Dade Circuit Court filed against Carroll by Wynwood restaurant manager, Miguel Angel Weill. That lawsuit centers around Weill’s allegation that Carroll spat in his face in April 2023. It is still pending.
In March of last year, Miami Beach Police obtained a court order to have Carroll undergo an involuntary three-day mental health evaluation after Carroll filmed himself firing a shotgun from his boat docked behind his home.
Seven months later, Carroll was arrested in Lincoln County, Wyoming, on an outstanding warrant in his native Tampa on a stalking charge against his ex-wife. Prosecutors dropped that charge in November.
Later that month, Carroll posted on his Instagram account with 1.2 million followers that he had recently found out he has bipolar disorder, a mental illness that causes extreme mood shifts, including periods of mania and depression.
In his post, Carroll said he was receiving treatment for his mental illness that “went undiagnosed for years and contributed to actions that were out of character.”