SEATTLE - Police cited seven dancers at a local strip club for illegal touching, just over a week before voters here decide whether to keep a new ordinance regulating adult cabarets.
Last Saturday, undercover vice officers cited the dancers at Rick’s strip club for illegal touching of customers and accepting money for performing an illegal act while lap dancing. Three dancers were also cited for nudity, which is only allowed on stage, and for fondling themselves.
Police also booked two strippers at the Sands in nearby Ballard for similar lewd conduct on Thursday.
But attorney Gil Levy, who represents Rick’s, said the timing of the police action seemed curious, given the city’s campaign against a strip club-backed referendum on an ordinance passed last year that regulates strip clubs in the city.
Levy accused the city of playing politics with police, adding that there had been no law enforcement actions against clubs in recent months, until now – just a week prior to the Nov. 7 vote.
Capt. Dan Oliver, head of the vice unit, denied the accusation, saying that he took the action after determining that the department had not checked on clubs for months. Oliver said he took over the vice unit just six weeks ago.
Area strip club owners put the referendum on the ballot after the City Council approved an ordinance calling for dancers to have a minimum of four feet between themselves and customers, something strip club bosses say would force them out of business by eliminating lap dances. The measure also requires brighter lighting in clubs and bars dances in private areas.
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