South MS casino guest claims false arrest, rough treatment. What video shows
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- Guest sues casino and sheriff’s department after March 2025 roadside arrest
- Casino and county deny wrongdoing; cite trespass claim
- Bodycam footage contradicts 'slammed' claim amid damages dispute
A Wisconsin man who was a guest of the Silver Slipper Casino Hotel wound up on the roadside in handcuffs after hotel employees rousted him from bed, demanding that he move a camper from a casino parking lot, he claims.
The only problem, the guest insisted, was that the camper did not belong to him. He went back to bed, but soon enough had to face the cops.
The guest, Mark Charron, has filed a lawsuit against the casino hotel, Hancock County and Allen Weaver, who was a sheriff’s deputy in March 2025 and arrested Charron for trespassing. Hancock County attorney Gary Yarborough Jr. has filed a response to the lawsuit that says Allen and the Sheriff’s Department did nothing wrong.
The Silver Slipper also has denied any wrongdoing. The casino-hotel’s attorney J. Henry Ros says in a response to the lawsuit that Charron was trespassing and employees had asked him to leave.
It was after midnight when employees came knocking at his hotel room door on March 17, 2025, his lawsuit says, adding that they were yelling at him. He turned them away, saying the camper wasn’t his, but they knocked again within 30 seconds, his lawsuit says. Charron got dressed and answered.
“The employees continued yelling and screaming, and, half asleep, Sharron did tell the security guard that he was not very smart and needed to find a new job.” says the lawsuit, filed by attorney Daniel Waide of Hattiesburg.
Deputy confronts Silver Slipper guest
Hancock County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call from the casino and told Charron the business had “trespassed” him, and he would have to leave. Under Mississippi law, a person can be charged with trespass if a business owner, manager or employee asks that person to leave and he or she refuses to do so.
Deputy Allen Weaver and two other deputies showed up at the casino. Weaver did the talking. Law enforcement body camera footage showed their interaction in a hotel room hallway.
Charron kept trying to explain that the camper didn’t belong to him. Weaver was trying to get Charron to understand that he had been “trespassed” and the facts surrounding the camper were unrelated. Charron would need to pursue that as a civil matter, the officer explained. But Charron persisted with his explanations while he was being escorted from the casino with his belongings.
Once in his truck, he stopped in a parking lot to take photos and videos of a camper parked there, thinking it was the one the employees were talking about. He then got back into his truck and was driving along South Beach Boulevard when Weaver pulled over Charron’s truck.
Weaver handcuffed Charron. “Charron was then slammed against Deputy Weaver’s car,” the lawsuit says. Law enforcement video from the scene does not show Charron being “slammed” against the patrol car. Instead, Weaver escorted Charron to the vehicle in cuffs and then instructed Charron that it would be easiest to get in feet first.
Charron’s lawsuit says all charges against him were later dismissed.
Charron accuses the casino of “malicious” breach of contract and negligence in employee training and supervision. He accuses Weaver and the county of “reckless disregard for the rights and safety of persons in Hancock County. He is asking that a jury determine how much he should be paid in compensation and punitive damages.
Charron also seeks attorney’s fees. He filed the case in Hancock County Circuit Court, but Hancock County has removed the lawsuit to federal court, where it is before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden.
