In the Club

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Plaintiff Jeff Stroll says he became friends with the defendant when he hired him to work as a security guard at a nightclub. Jeff says the defendant helped turn the club into one of the best in town.

[00:00:10]But after his girlfriend left him, he turned to alcohol and their relationship went downhill. Jeff's suing his former friend for unpaid loans, the balance due on a car, and bail money.

[00:00:21]Defendant Clark Minor and his twin brother Mark Minor say Jeff was arrested for trafficking crystal meth out of the nightclub, where Clark was head of security. Clark says he saw the plaintiff as a father figure after his own father died and can't believe Jeff is turning his back on him now. He's countersuing for emotional distress.

[00:00:41]Clark, what happened?

[00:00:42]Well, I first met Clark in 1998 when my son bought a nightclub and Clark was contracted to be a security guard.

[00:00:53]Uh this lasted for 5 years, very successfully.

[00:00:57]Clark was uh instrumental in taking a a club that had a bad reputation and cleaning it up into a nice place for people to go.

[00:01:07]There was a few small loans made during this time and they were all paid back successfully. I then sold him a uh a car in uh 2001 and he made payments on it successfully.

[00:01:21]But then his girlfriend met another gentleman on the internet and took this car and ran off to Pennsylvania to meet him.

[00:01:28]Car broke down.

[00:01:30]Car's still in Pennsylvania.

[00:01:32]Let me let him respond to that. I did in 1998, I was head of security for him. I did do that. And basically, sir, I come to discover he was doing crystal meth trafficking out of the nightclub in there.

[00:01:42]>> His son was?

[00:01:44]He was.

[00:01:45]Right there.

[00:01:46]Is this true, sir?

[00:01:48]Is this true?

[00:01:49]>> What he just commented about?

[00:01:51]Absolutely not.

[00:01:52]>> Don't lie. Don't lie. I was in court with him. For what?

[00:01:56]He he he went to court drugs. I stuck with him as a bodyguard, as a friend, and stuff like that. Took a leave from my job.

[00:02:03]>> That's untrue as well? No.

[00:02:05]I took a leave from my job.

[00:02:07]>> had to go to court for drugs?

[00:02:09]>> but not over drugs. Okay. Go ahead, sir.

[00:02:12]He agreed to pay how much? He He got the balance of the car down to $1,172.

[00:02:19]>> $1,172, pretty good.

[00:02:22]Go ahead.

[00:02:22]>> And I think the series of events caused him to start abusing alcohol.

[00:02:28]Okay. I mean, he came over to my house on more than one occasion, and his phrase was, "Can I get a little nip?"

[00:02:36]And I'd I'd I'd pour him a drink.

[00:02:39]Am I lying?

[00:02:42]And I'd pour I'd pour him I'd pour him a drink.

[00:02:46]>> me, don't point at me like that, man.

[00:02:48]You poured him a drink >> I I'd pour him a drink out of a 1 L bottle, cuz that's what we always had.

[00:02:53]>> poured his out. What we always had at the nightclub.

[00:02:56]And he made a comment to me, he said, "Jeff, I don't see how you can keep a 1 L bottle of liquor here without drinking it all in one day. If it was in my house, it'd be gone."

[00:03:04]>> Very good, sir. Can we move on to the loans and Okay. And then when when I really realized he had a drinking problem is when I had the local police call me up one day, back about 3 years ago, and it was in the middle of the day, I think maybe 10:00 in the morning, and I said He said, "We've got Clark Minor here.

[00:03:22]We've We've arrested him on breaking a restraining order.

[00:03:26]We've given him a breathalyzer. We're taking him to jail." Why did they call you? Because he said, "Call Call him and have him to come get my car so it won't get towed." All right. Let's get to what he owes you for.

[00:03:36]>> So, well, there's $500 there. I've got bailing him out. Yeah. And he agreed to repay?

[00:03:42]Yes. All right.

[00:03:44]>> And then I have uh three checks that he wrote me that uh aren't any good.

[00:03:52]All right.

[00:03:53]>> him that too.

[00:03:54]And that's for how much? $250.

[00:03:57]>> Bad checks.

[00:03:58]>> Brother. 250.

[00:04:01]What else? Well, and then I've got a series of small loans where he come over and said, "Can I get $100, $10, $20, $20, $20?"

[00:04:10]>> your list, sir.

[00:04:12]Just like a word of here and stop him back with my bad with me. Go ahead. He's basically trying to badge me over here.

[00:04:18]He is about the dollar, you can see that. I don't know all that money. My Is there a signature on there? That I signed on that?

[00:04:26]No, it ain't.

[00:04:29]He he's just greedy, basically.

[00:04:31]>> that people don't owe him. Right. For I'm telling you this, the bond money, yeah. Bond money? The bond money, yeah.

[00:04:38]I owe him that. But that other stuff, he's He's well aligned with that. Bad checks, you never wrote him bad checks. No.

[00:04:46]Okay. Do you have copy? You've got him.

[00:04:49]Oh, right.

[00:04:51]Sir, did you write him three checks? No, sir, but basically at my paychecks I got from his his his nightclub He was taking my He was taking my money.

[00:04:59]You were paid in cash, Clark.

[00:05:01]>> Sir, hold on. I asked you if you wrote him three checks and you said, "No, sir." Well, sir, basically I did write him some checks, sir, but he was taking out of my >> sir"? He was taking out of my He was taking out of >> ask you about any of that. I asked you if you wrote him three checks and you immediately stood up and looked me in my face and said, "No, sir." Well, well, you know, I'm not going to lie to you.

[00:05:21]>> LOOK RIGHT AT IT. I DIDN'T WRITE the checks to him, but basically, sir, he was taking the money out of my What's that have to do with what we're talking about, sir?

[00:05:28]>> Your Honor. Your Honor, those checks, you can see the dates on >> sir? The those checks >> That's that.

[00:05:34]Okay.

[00:05:35]And and and I I loaned him $1,000 and he swore up and down that he would give me this money back.

[00:05:41]>> true, sir?

[00:05:42]With his tattoo.

[00:05:43]>> go, looking crazy. Is this true or not?

[00:05:45]Hold on, hold You got proof of that?

[00:05:46]Hold on. Does he got proof for that? He didn't give me no $1,000.

[00:05:50]You know he never gave me $1,000.

[00:05:52]>> Got you. It's hard to believe you, sir, cuz you lied to me looking at me dead in my eye when I had three checks Where's his proof at? You know where's his proof at? Where's his proof?

[00:06:01]Same thing you asked about the checks and he produced them and you still denied it.

[00:06:05]>> Where's his proof at, you know?

[00:06:05]>> Let's get to the car. Sir, have you paid off the car? No, sir, I haven't. So, you said the only thing you agreed to was the $500 bill. Now you're agreeing to chew him for the car also?

[00:06:17]Yes, sir. Does your witness want to testify? State your name. My name is Mark A. Minor.

[00:06:23]>> What do you want to tell me? Well, basically Clark and Jeff, you know, they they were like I don't know like a team. They're like that was he's like a the dad to him. You know what I'm saying? I mean, all this bickering between them two and stuff, you know, you know, Jeff did things too, man. He talked about the drugs and everything. That did happen. And I'm saying far as the you know, when Jeff talked about the drinking and stuff and everything, a lot of that had to do with him, too.

[00:06:45]You know what I'm saying? Cuz they were buddies. They drank together. Go ahead.

[00:06:47]He go over there and drink. Jeff come over to his house and drink. So, he can >> you think he flipped on him and wants to sue him now?

[00:06:54]Well, Some people just do it because they owed them enough money. They say, "I want my money." There ain't no friend. I I feel some I feel it's greed.

[00:07:03]You know what I'm saying?

[00:07:03]>> want his money. There ain't no greed.

[00:07:05]$4,000 for emotional distress. How does he owe you for that? Sir, basically I feel like I gave this man my life. I feel like basically when my dad passed in 2001, basically he stepped right in.

[00:07:17]He knew that and basically I was vulnerable at that time. I was working for him at that time and he was like a father figure to me. I loved him.

[00:07:25]I loved him better than my You no longer do?

[00:07:28]Yes, I do. Still. Okay, so how does he owe you? And and basically, sir, I feel like I lost my family cuz my my fiance felt like I basically love him more than her. That's why she left. Love him more than her.

[00:07:42]Oh, why y'all just say it was a gay club? Y'ALL JUST IT WASN'T GAY.

[00:07:45]>> COME ON, IT WASN'T LIKE THAT. THAT'S WHAT BOTHERS me about people who are like that.

[00:07:50]Nobody Sir, if anybody knows me, they know I am totally non-discriminatory. I have no prejudice about gay folks. And when you come in here, you're talking about being in love and having a club together, just say we were former lovers No, no, it wasn't like that. No, it wasn't like that. It was like he's a dad to me, like that. It was like that. A lot of older gay men do refer to the younger men as like a son to me.

[00:08:16]>> know if he's gay or not.

[00:08:18]I don't know.

[00:08:19]>> Well, you said you were in love.

[00:08:20]>> It It was a love like a father relationship, Your Honor. Like a father relationship.

[00:08:24]>> your girlfriend accused you of being with him.

[00:08:29]Well, Well, well, >> She She did.

[00:08:32]All right, you say he owes you $4,000 because he's caused you emotional distress because of the division this has caused in your relationship.

[00:08:42]Exactly, sir.

[00:08:43]>> All right, you want to know a good way of avoiding this emotional distress and reconciling your relationship and avoiding any division?

[00:08:52]>> Mhm.

[00:08:53]Pay him.

[00:08:55]That'll get rid of all of the problems.

[00:08:58]The only thing that was in question were the checks, which I I'm determining you owe, and the $1,000 which you claim you don't owe as well.

[00:09:10]$3,827 is your judgment, ma'am. Sir. Uh I wasn't trying to be funny, either.

[00:09:18]I promise you I wasn't. $3,827, your claim is dismissed. You guys have a good day.

[00:09:29]CAN WE BE FRIENDS AGAIN?

[00:09:32]I THINK I COULD probably be friends with Clark again if he would uh get something done about I think he has a drinking problem and uh and get a good job. Like I knew him 6 years ago. This is not the same Clark I knew 6 years ago.