Vince Shlomi, best known for his late-known infomercials hawking the “ShamWow” towel, was arrested February 7 for allegedly assaulting Sasha Harris, 26, a prostitute, in his Miami Beach hotel room.
The ShamWow salesman claimed that Harris bit his tongue while kissing him in his room at the Setai hotel. Shlomi, 44, then “punched [Harris] several times until [she] released his tongue,” according to a police report. Shlomi ran bleeding to the lobby of the hotel and security personnel there alerted police.
When police arrived, they found both Shlomi and Harris with “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from their persons.” Shlomi, who told CNBC earlier this year that his ShamWow has sold “millions” of units, told police that he gave Harris $1000 for sex. Police found $930 in Harris' purse after she was taken into custody.
Harris refused to speak to police about what happened during her encounter with Shlomi, and later turned down an interview with The Smoking Gun, a popular Web site which features police reports and other government documents. The Smoking Gun was first to break the story. Harris also would not comment on whether she is, in fact, a prostitute. She did, however, mention that she is considering filing a lawsuit against the ShamWow spokesman.
Both Vince Shlomi and Harris were charged with felony aggravated battery at the time of their arrests, but no formal charges have been filed against either. Harris suffered “a large laceration to her right side of her lip/mouth, lacerations all over her face including several facial fractures,” according to a police report. Shlomi, who also goes by the name Vince Offer, was also injured in the fight and was treated at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Before gaining fame as “the ShamWow guy,” Vince Shlomi directed a movie called “Underground Comedy.” The movie was a flop, which prompted Shlomi to create an infomercial to sell his DVDs.
“We sold 50,000 DVDs that way and eventually sold 50,000 more of them in stores,” Shlomi told CNBC.
In addition to the ShamWow, Shlomi also appears in infomercials advertising the Slap Chop, a food chopping appliance. There is no word yet as to whether Shlomi's arrest will affect his business.
By Bryan Lawver
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