A Wisconsin man was a guest at the Silver Shoe Casino Hotel when hotel staff woke him from his bed and asked him to move his camper from the casino parking lot. He was eventually handcuffed to the curb.
The guest insisted that the only problem was that the campervan did not belong to him. He returned to bed but soon had to face the police.
Guest Mark Charron has filed a lawsuit against the Hancock County Casino Hotel and Deputy Sheriff Allen Weaver, and Charron was arrested in March 2025 on a trespassing charge. Hancock County Prosecutor Gary Yarborough Jr. responded to the lawsuit, saying Allen and the Sheriff’s Department did nothing wrong.
Silvershoes also denied any wrongdoing. J. Henry Ros, an attorney for the casino-hotel, said in a response to the lawsuit that Charron was trespassing and employees asked him to leave.
His lawsuit alleges that employees knocked on his hotel room door just after midnight on March 17, 2025, adding that they yelled at him. He refused them, saying the camper wasn’t his, but they knocked on the door again within 30 seconds, his lawsuit states. Charron answered as he got dressed.
“Employees continued to yell, and while half asleep, Sharon told the security guard that he was not very bright and needed to find a new job,” the lawsuit filed by Hattiesburg attorney Daniel Wade said.
Hancock County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mark Charron of Wisconsin on a misdemeanor trespassing charge, a charge Charron said was later dismissed.
(Hancock County Sheriff’s Department/Video screenshot)
Deputy confronts silver shoe guest
Hancock County Sheriff’s deputies received a call from the casino and told Charron that the casino had “violated” him and he had to leave. Under Mississippi law, if a business owner, manager or employee asks a person to leave and he or she refuses to do so, the person may be charged with trespassing.
Deputy Sheriff Allen Weaver and two other deputy sheriffs showed up at the casino. Weaver spoke. Law enforcement body camera footage shows their interaction in a hotel room hallway.
Karen kept trying to explain that the campervan didn’t belong to him. Weaver tried to make Charron understand that he had been “intruded” and that the fact that the campers were there had nothing to do with it. The officer explained that Cullen needed to handle the matter as a civil matter. But as Charron was escorted out of the casino with his belongings, he insisted on explaining.
Wisconsin resident Mark Charron got into the back seat of a Hancock County Sheriff’s patrol car after being arrested on trespassing charges. Charron, who was a guest at the Silver Shoe Casino Hotel, has filed a lawsuit against Silver Shoe and the county. The trespassing charge was later dismissed, the lawsuit states.
(Hancock County Sheriff’s Department/Video screenshot)
After getting in his truck, he stopped in the parking lot to take photos and video of a camper parked there, which he believed was the camper the employees were talking about. He then returned to his truck and drove down South Beach Boulevard when Weaver stopped Charron’s truck.
Weaver put handcuffs on Karen. “Charron was then struck into Deputy Weaver’s vehicle,” the lawsuit states. Law enforcement video from the scene does not show Charron being “ramped” into the patrol car. Instead, Weaver escorted Charron to the car in handcuffs and then instructed Charron that it would be easiest to stand up first.
Cullen’s lawsuit says all charges against him were later dismissed.
Cullen accused the casino of “malicious” breach of contract and neglect of employee training and supervision. He accused Weaver and the county of “wanton disregard for the rights and safety of the people of Hancock County. He asked the jury to determine how much compensatory and punitive damages he should receive.”
Karen also asked for attorney’s fees. He filed the lawsuit in Hancock County Circuit Court, but Hancock County has moved the suit to federal court, where it will be heard by U.S. District Judge Soul Ozerden.
2018 Silver Slipper Casino Hotel in Hancock County.
(Courtesy of Silver Slipper Casino)
