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Bristol Police Officer Who Removed VIP Guest From Hard Rock Casino Awarded $150K
Posted on: October 2, 2026, 03:39h.
Last updated on: October 2, 2026, 03:39h.
Key Points
- A Bristol police officer won a $150,000 defamation judgment after a casino patron accused her on TikTok of assaulting her at Hard Rock Bristol
- The patron’s videos drew more than 1.2 million views, prompting police to release body-camera footage disputing her claims
- A jury awarded Officer Lilly-Kay Tomlinson $75,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages after 20 minutes of deliberation
An officer with the Bristol Police Department in Virginia has been awarded $150,000 in compensatory and punitive damages stemming from an incident in September 2025.
On Sept. 6, 2025, casino security at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol asked on-site Bristol Police Officer Lilly-Kay Tomlinson to speak with two patrons suspected of sneaking into the Plum Lounge, a VIP area reserved for qualifying Unity by Hard Rock rewards members.
Upon approaching the suspected trespassers, a woman, later identified as Stephanie Lynn Bates, became unruly, shouting that Tomlinson had the wrong person. Bates, a self-described “influencer” on TikTok, claimed she and her husband rightfully entered the Plum Lounge with their rewards cards.
Tomlinson said she tried to de-escalate the situation, but Bates’ hostility only amplified. The officer eventually told the couple they would be arrested unless they immediately vacated the property.
Bates claimed she and her husband were forcibly and wrongly removed from the Hard Rock property by Tomlinson and other security personnel.
Bates later posted a series of videos to her TikTok discussing the incident. In one video titled “Violent Cop Who Wrongly Assaulted Me,” Bates detailed how Tomlinson allegedly “assaulted” her by yanking her arm. Bates’ videos racked up over 1.2 million views and were liked 58K times.
Jury Awards Cop $150,000
In response to Bates’ TikTok videos, the Bristol Police Department published the officer’s body camera footage of the incident. Law enforcement officials said the decision to release the footage was to dispel Bates’ claims that officers acted inappropriately.
You’re here for me? What the f***? You ain’t here for me, baby,” Bates can be heard saying in the body camera footage. Bates then tells Tomlinson that she “better get your facts straight” and calls her a “dumb b***h.”
Two months after the incident, Tomlinson filed a defamation lawsuit against Bates on allegations that Bates made false and defamatory claims that were “widely viewed on her social media page on TikTok.”
Court records revealed that Bates stopped at a hospital after her claimed assault but was determined to have not suffered a physical injury.
A jury this week needed just 20 minutes of deliberation before deciding to award Tomlinson $75,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages.
I think there’s an importance in standing up for yourself. I think with law enforcement you have to stand up for what’s right and what’s wrong. It felt like what was done was a lie and was wrong,” Tomlinson said after the verdict, as reported by NBC News 5.
Before the judgment, Bates apologized to the officers, saying she could have handled herself “a hundred times better.”
Can Defendant Pay?
It’s unknown if Bates will be able to pay Tomlinson the $150,000 in damages. Casino.org dug through the court records to locate Bates’ home address, which is listed in White Pine, Tenn.
The property address has a Zestimate value of $298,900. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is 1,260 square feet.
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