Woman claims Detroit Greektown club owner, bouncers attacked her

DETROIT (WJBK) - A night of birthday fun goes downhill quickly at a Greektown nightclub. A woman says she was attacked by staff members just because she needed to use the restroom.

"He just grabbed my hand and bit it," said Alisia Francavilla. "I couldn't believe what was going on."

A photo brought back overwhelming feelings of fear, confusion, anger and humiliation for Francavilla. Francavilla, 23 and her twin sister and friends claim Saturday night they planned to celebrate the twins' birthdays at Exodos in Detroit.

It was just before 2 a.m. when the group, stopped on the way out so Francavilla and another friend could use the restroom. And as customers filed out, she says an older woman who Francavilla thought was the owner told her it was ok to use the restroom.

The bathroom attendant told her otherwise.

"She was just telling us we were unable to use the bathroom."

Confused, Francavilla says she told them the owner told her it was ok and added that she was a paying customer. But around 2:15 she says a man came up to her telling her he was the owner.

That was when the young woman says roughly five men including bouncers, a manager and the club's owner began shoving her away, shoving her toward the door at the bottom of a stairwell.

"I was getting pulled, pushed and shoved around like a rag doll," she said. "At one point I was lifted off my feet."

Then Francavilla says quickly things escalated.

"The owner spit in my face and took my hand and bit me on my hand," Francavilla said.

Francavilla's friend pulled out her cell phone to try and record the altercation as Francavilla cried in pain.

"It really hurt and I just was in tears," she said.

The group's designated driver Kayli Pitylak tells said they then tried to make their way out.

"They started singing happy birthday in a very taunting way," she said.

Francavilla reported the alleged attack to Detroit police and spoke to an attorney. He says there's been numerous complaints including attacks.

"This behavior is not acceptable," said attorney Peter Angeles. "So far there's no plausible explanation as to why this occurred to our client."

As her attorney begins to investigate,  FOX 2 was unable to reach anyone at Exodos Monday.

Meanwhile, Francavilla says she hopes this never happens to anyone else.

"Anything can happen and the people who were there, the bouncers who were supposed to protect us, were doing the exact opposite," she said.

After the report was filed, a statement was released by the club:

"This past Saturday night, as our staff was closing and moving guests towards the exit, a group of individuals attempted to re-enter the premise. Our security team made efforts to prevent this, as it was after 2:30 a.m., which resulted in a brief verbal exchange between the guests and our staff.

"We are disappointed that an otherwise festive evening was tarnished by this late-night exchange, and apologize to our guests for their experience, which does not represent the values and policies of our family-owned business.

"We have investigated this event thoroughly and taken immediate action with staff to ensure our guests have the best and safest experience possible, every time they visit.

"We hope to move forward from this incident swiftly, so we can continue to be a place of enjoyment for locals and visitors to Detroit, as we have for the past 15 years. Thank you to the community and our guests for their continued support.

"In regards to the accusations of physical violence:  Our top priority is guest safety, as well as following all local and state laws. We have reviewed all video footage of that evening. We are certain our staff followed protocol while attempting to close the bar, and no force or violence was used against our guests."