Illegal Strip Clubs Once Again A Problem In San Jose
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – The San Jose Police Department is once again moving to stamp down illegal strip clubs, saying the establishments are magnets for more serious crimes.
KPIX 5 received a tip that San Jose's infamous bikini bar scene was heating up again, especially at Ken 369 on the east side. Once inside, our hidden cameras captured this: a dozen different women giving lap dances for $20, and dancers willing to go topless for $40.
Since KPIX 5 began covering the problems generated by illegal strip clubs and after-hours liquor sales, San Jose Police have made gains in closing the operations. Four days after we recorded our video, the establishment was shut down.
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San Jose Police said strip clubs like Ken 369 are magnets for fistfights, stabbings and shootings, but it was shut down before anyone got seriously hurt.
KPIX 5 did some digging into how Ken 369 came to be. It's part of a high stakes game of whack-a-mole.
Back in 2012, a man was shot and killed in San Jose's first bikini bar homicide at an establishment called "Alo." Records show after Alo shut down, the liquor license was transferred to "BBOSS," another strip club.
BBOSS had a stabbing in 2014, and was shut down this year. Documents show BBOSS transferred the liquor license to Ken 369.
Sources told KPIX 5 all three strip clubs were secretly run by the same group of business partners.
When they can't be shut down quickly, the results are often tragic. Ten minutes up the road is another illegal strip club, Lu Beer and Bar Restaurant.
San Jose Police met with the owners on September 25th, telling them to stop the lap dances and after hours drinking.
"Told them, these are the violations we've noticed, this is what's happening, we need you to go ahead and basically cease and desist," Officer Albert Morales of the San Jose Police Department told KPIX 5.
Neither San Jose Police, nor the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, had legal grounds to shut down Lu beer.
Less than 24 hours after that first meeting, two people got shot. San Jose Police warned again that if things didn't change, someone would get killed.
"Our hands are tied. It's very, very frustrating. In an ideal situation, it would've been great for us to go in there initially after that shooting incident and shut them down right away," Morales said.
But the owners kept it up, raking in thousands of dollars a night, while the case made its way through the system of court hearings and appeals.
A month later, the prediction came true. Michael Arcega, a 34-year old husband and father, was sitting on the curb, when a gunman sprayed the area with bullets. Arcega was hit at least once, and died.
"Him being gone hurts. It really does," said Christina Arcega, Michael's sister.
Christina Arcega and close friend Bradley Wills are left wondering how, despite all the warning signs, the law allowed Lu Beer to remain open.
"I'm pissed off. You're gonna have anger. And it's disgust, actually. And again, I speak from owning my own business, that's just not right," Wills told KPIX 5.
Both Lu Beer and Ken 369 are located in California's 27th Assembly District, the home of Assemblywoman Nora Campos, who sits on the committee that oversees Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Campos told KPIX 5 that she will introduce legislation in January to try to give the department more enforcement powers.
"I'm ready to push something. And figure out what tool we give ABC and the local authorities so that they can close those establishments down," Campos said.
The assemblywoman said not being able to prevent Arcega's death is a tragedy, and is making a bold prediction.
"I'm optimistic that if you come back during the next policy cycle, we will have some kind of law that will give teeth to this issue," Campos said.
