Monaco prince sues over NYC nightclub fracas

A son of Monaco's Princess Caroline is suing over a New Yorknightclub brawl that left him bloodied, spurred another patron's arrest and hasboth camps claiming the other started it.
Prince Pierre Casiraghi and two friends are taking on the Double Seven club,patron Adam Hock and Hock's attorney in the lawsuit, made public Monday.
Casiraghi says Hock drunkenly attacked him and his cohorts after the club ownerinvited Hock to sit with them at a VIP table in February. One of the prince'slawyers, Edward Kratt, has said his client's group didn't provoke the melee.
Casiraghi was treated for facial cuts. Hock has pleaded not guilty to assault.
The prince's lawsuit says the club shouldn't have served alcohol to Hock andshould have known Hock is "a person of pugilistic propensity."
The lawsuit also says Hock and defense lawyer Joseph Tacopina defamed theprince and his cohorts by saying they started the February fracas and have ahistory of belligerence.
Tacopina said his remarks were made to defend a falsely accused client.
"If they don't like the truth, that's their problem," Tacopina saidMonday.
A lawyer for Double Seven owner Jeffrey Jah said he "unequivocallydisputes" the allegations against him in the lawsuit, which seeksunspecified damages.
Jah "intends to vigorously defend against them and is confident that hewill ultimately prevail," said the lawyer, Terrence A. Oved.
Casiraghi is the youngest of Princess Caroline's four children. His father,Italian businessman Stefano Casiraghi, was Caroline's second husband and waskilled in a boating accident in 1990.
Caroline is a sister of Monaco's ruling sovereign, Prince Albert II.
Hock used to be an owner of the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, a nightspot in TimesSquare.