Strip ‘clubbed’
Men sue for $75M over ‘beat & bust’
A $776 dispute over a night out at a Midtown strip club has ballooned into a $75 million lawsuit.
Rene Zurita and Matt Friedman claim in their suit that three bouncers and a stripper swiped $776 from them, attacked them and then told police that the two pals had robbed the stripper at Rick’s Cabaret on West 33rd Street last February.
The suit, filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court, also accuses the security guards — Carlos Cline, Jimmy Valentine and Frederick Garrido — of holding the men hostage.
“They were a couple of old friends who decided to have a drink at a place that advertises as a gentlemen’s club, but there were no gentlemen there,” attorney Jack Yankowitz, who filed the suit, told The Post.
On Feb. 26, the buddies were at a table in the jiggle joint, with Friedman’s wad of cash stacked on top when the stripper came up to them and knocked the bills to the floor.
“All of a sudden, she tries to grab all the money and screams, ‘That’s my money,’ ” Yankowitz said.
Club staff went over to investigate. The stripper claimed that she had the money tied around her ankle and that the two men snatched it, Yankowitz said. She also said Zurita told her, “I will f--k you up,” the suit claims.
Friedman scooped up the cash and tried to leave with Zurita, but they were corralled in a hallway by the beefy bodyguards.
“One of the bouncers grabs Rene and smashes him into a wall; his head smashed into a glass frame,” Yankowitz said.
Another bouncer grabbed the cash from Friedman’s pocket, Yankowitz said.
Friedman called police. But the officers arrested Zurita and Friedman, who spent 30 hours behind bars.
The Manhattan DA’s Office dismissed the case in April. The men are seeking damages for their pain and suffering and medical costs.
Rick’s Cabaret did not return a call for comment.