A violent altercation on the Las Vegas Strip has led to the arrest of two street performers dressed as showgirls after a dispute over a photo tip escalated into a bloody brawl. The incident, which took place on Sept. 30 outside the Planet Hollywood resort, left two tourists injured, with one victim allegedly struck more than 22 times and bludgeoned with a high-heeled boot.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s arrest report, the conflict began when two visitors from North Carolina stopped to pose for photos with three women dressed in elaborate showgirl attire. After the photos, the tourists handed the performers a $20 tip and began walking away.
Unsatisfied with the gratuity, one of the performers, Jennifer Ortiz, allegedly pursued the tourists and demanded a much higher payment, ranging from $60 to $180. When the tourists refused to pay, the verbal confrontation quickly turned physical.
The tourists want charges to be filed
Surveillance footage and a separate bystander video shared by Fox News captured the ensuing chaos. Police noted that Ortiz removed her white high-heeled boot during the attack and used it as a weapon, striking a tourist in the forehead and leaving a nearly 2-inch laceration.
The second video showed the performers trading punches with the tourists. At one point, one of the women allegedly pulled a female tourist’s hair and struck her repeatedly.
A male tourist was seen shirtless, with blood smeared across his face, attempting to intervene by pushing one of the showgirls to the ground and shouting for the women to stop. A third showgirl who was present was not arrested. Police determined that she had been trying to break up the fight.
After law enforcement arrived, both tourists received medical evaluations at the scene. Although they declined to be taken to a hospital, they provided written statements to investigators and requested that criminal charges be filed.
When questioned by police, the performers offered conflicting accounts of what happened. Ortiz claimed that the tourists were the initial aggressors and that she had been struck first. Her associate, Magdellena Romero, said she had only joined the fight to defend her friend.
Police eventually booked both women into the Clark County Detention Center. Ortiz faces charges of battery and obtaining money under false pretenses involving less than $1,200.
Romero was booked on a single charge of battery. Court records also revealed that Ortiz was already under an active court order requiring her to stay out of trouble following a separate but similar confrontation at the Fremont Street Experience in March.
The showgirls were also accused of falsifying some charges
The investigation uncovered additional allegations involving the showgirls and their dealings with tourists on the Strip. The arrest report detailed a separate complaint filed by another person against the same group.
In that incident, a male tourist agreed to pay the performers a flat fee of $60 for a set of photos. He completed the transaction by tapping his debit card against Ortiz’s smartphone. However, when he checked his mobile banking app shortly afterward, he discovered that he had been charged $218.
When he tried to confront the women about the alleged overcharge, they reportedly gave him a fake telephone number, leaving him unable to resolve the dispute with them.
Published: Oct 10, 2026 11:05 am