CLUB SOMA VICTIM’S FAMILY SUES
07/12/2007
By Nathan Duke
The family of an Astoria teenager who was killed by a bouncer at a local nightclub in July 2005 has filed a lawsuit against the club, its owner and the security company that hired the bouncer, the lawyer for the victim’s family said.
The family of Antonios Fasarakis, 19, filed a wrongful death suit Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court against Long Island City’s Club Soma; the club’s purported owners, Manhattan-based Styles Security Executive Protection; the city; the state Liquor Authority; and the estate of Francisco Solivan, a bouncer at the nightclub who fatally punched Fasarakis, said Rosemarie Arnold, attorney for the Fasarakis family.
“These people did not get justice in criminal court,” Arnold said. “I will attempt to get them justice in the civil court.”
Fasarakis was killed when Solivan delivered a blow to his head during an argument on June 9, 2006, outside the club, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. Law enforcement officials said Fasarakis had been asked by Solivan to leave the club earlier in the evening.
Solivan was charged with assault in the incident, but the case was later dismissed, a district attorney spokeswoman said. The bouncer was killed in May during a motorcycle accident in Brooklyn, Arnold said.
Club Soma was permanently shuttered last August in response to Fasarakis’ death. The club and its purported owners and co-owners – James Orsaris, George Phillips, Aristotle Hatzigeorgiou, John Maglio and Thane Gevas – are among the names listed in the suit as well as Styles Security, a Manhattan-based security company which employed Solivan.
The purported owners could not be reached for comment. Styles Security did not return phone calls made to the company.
Christina Fasarakis, 29, Antonios’ sister, said she hopes the family’s suit paves the way to prevent future tragedies from occurring at borough nightclubs.
“It’s just an unbearable situation to have to deal with,” she said. “I don’t want anyone else to have to suffer and feel the loss that my family feels every day.”
State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria), who called on the city last summer to shut down Soma after Fasarakis’ death, said the community should fight local bars and nightclubs with safety issues.
“We need to be vigilant to make sure that places that are not good neighbors in the community will be shuttered,” he said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at [email protected]or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.