Lawmaker disputes role in casino scuffle

BUFFALO -- A New York senator involved in a fight at a casino that left him with bruised ribs and his wife with a concussion is disputing a woman's claim that he punched her and her husband as they left the building.

"I didn't hit anybody after the incident," State Sen. Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo) told reporters in Albany yesterday, as police and Seneca Indian Nation officials continued to investigate the Friday night brawl at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls.

Grisanti said he was trying to defuse an argument between two men at the tribal casino when he was punched in the chest and head. His wife, Maria, said she was attacked by two women who slammed her head on the floor.

As of yesterday, no charges had been filed. Niagara Falls police were inviting those involved to provide their accounts of what happened, much of which was caught on casino security cameras, Capt. William Thomson said.

"The video speaks for itself," said Thomson, declining to discuss specifics because it is part of the investigation.

In a police report, a 29-year-old woman said she was escorting her husband, who had injured his knee, out of the casino's hotel lounge when Grisanti ran over and hit them.

Yesterday, Grisanti denied hitting anyone after the fight. While it was under way, he said he repeatedly broke away from security guards who were trying to restrain him as he tried to get to his wife.

"I went in there and was making these sweeping motions to clear people out. If somebody got hit in any circumstance, whatsoever, it's too bad because my wife was on the bottom in that pile and I would do it again in a heartbeat," he said.

Grisanti was expected to give his statement to police later in the week, Thomson said.

The first-term Republican said he and his wife had attended a fundraising gala for the Seneca Diabetes Foundation at the casino because their daughter was performing at the function with the Buffalo singing act, the Scintas. They were in a lobby around 11:30 p.m. when they encountered two men arguing loudly.

Grisanti said he asked the men to calm down. When he identified himself, he said one of the men cursed and accused him of hating the Seneca Nation before punching him in the chest.