Bouncers bludgeoned Roger Clemens’ minor-leaguer son, godson in bar brawl, lawsuit says
The son and godson of baseball star Roger Clemens are suing a Houston bar after they say bouncers there singled the pair out and beat them during a New Years’ Eve bar brawl.
Kacy Clemens, 24, and Connor Capel, 21, both of whom are minor-league baseball players from the Houston area, say they were beaten by bouncers at the Concrete Cowboy near downtown Houston after showing up together for the New Years’ event.
Randy Sorrells, a lawyer for the pair, said Thursday that Clemens’ throwing shoulder was injured in the fight, while Capel took blows to the face from one of the bouncers’ flashlights.
“The lines on the flashlight handle line up perfectly with the wounds to his forehead,” Sorrells told McClatchy.
Clemens and Capel say one bouncer asked them to move from where they were standing near the bar, minutes after they had arrived. When they moved, according to the lawsuit, the bouncer began attacking Capel and Clemens, saying the pair was being kicked out.
That’s when, Clemens and Capel say in the lawsuit, more bouncers and bar workers joined in the beating.
“The bar has their lawyers, and they say, ‘you’re wrong,’ that the whole thing was my clients’ fault,” Sorrells told McClatchy. “Unfortunately they also told us there is no video from the bar that night, and we think that an intentional decision was made at this bar not to have cameras, so that they can overserve and overcrowd the place.”
Representatives for the Concrete Cowboy did not immediately respond to requests for comment from either McClatchy or the Houston Chronicle.
Houston police were called to the Concrete Cowboy early the morning of Jan. 1 in response to the fight. One of the club’s bouncers, 23-year-old Nicholas Estrada-Johnson, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, according to court records.
He posted $1,000 in bond the next day and was released. A third person, not named in the lawsuit, was also assaulted by Concrete Cowboy staff members that night, the lawsuit says.
“The culture of Concrete Cowboy needs to be exposed for what it is — bouncers who make it their mission to brutalize and assault patrons who they perceive to not follow their orders,” Sorrells said in a news release. “The bouncers picked on the wrong group of innocent young men in this instance and we intend to bring the employees, managers and owners of Concrete Cowboy to justice.”
The suit names the bar’s parent company, 34th S&S, LLC, as the sole defendant. The Concrete Cowboy also has two locations in the Dallas area, as well as one in Austin and one in Chicago.
Kacy Clemens split time playing first base for two Class Single-A teams in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system during the 2018 season, according to his Baseball Reference profile. According to his lawyers, he has not yet begun throwing exercises as he rehabs the injured elbow in preparation for the 2019 season.
His father, Roger Clemens, pitched for the Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Houston Astros during a 24-year big-league career.
Both Kacy Clemens and Capel grew up in the Houston area. Both Roger and Kacy Clemens played college baseball at the University of Texas. Capel is an outfielder in the Cleveland Indians organization.
This story was originally published January 31, 2019 at 11:23 AM.
