"What goes on in the bus should stay on the bus"

This story really needs no introduction. Thanks Rod Brooks!
But please do yourself a favor and click on "Party Bus" link to see inside.

STRIPPERS ON BUS TAKE RIDE TO JAIL

By VALERIE KALFRIN vkalfrin@tampatrib.com

Published: Nov 29, 2005


TAMPA - -- Police raided a strip club on wheels parked near Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, complete with a disco ball and seven strippers performing lap dances for fans.

Police busted the "Party Bus," owned by Gala Transportation Inc. of Tampa and rented by the strip club Deja Vu, shortly before Sunday's kickoff between the Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears.

Eleven people were arrested, including the dancers, a club manager, a bouncer, and a customer accused of smoking marijuana.

Mitchell Scott Stone, 29, of Tampa, who owns and operates the bus, told investigators this is the fourth time Deja Vu's dancers have taken their show on the road to entertain Bucs fans near the stadium. Stone faces a misdemeanor charge of renting space for lewdness. Stone could not be reached for comment. He, the manager and bouncer also face two misdemeanor charges related to selling liquor without a license.

"I still have the question: Why bring this to a Bucs game?" Sgt. Bill Todd said.

Luke Lirot, the attorney representing Deja Vu and its arrested employees, said the club wanted to drum up business for its home at 6805 Adamo Drive, about 11 miles from the stadium.

He challenged the liquor charges, likening the bus to a tailgate party where people share beverages. Todd said charging admission for access to alcohol constitutes a sale.

Formerly a transit bus from Broward County, the 40-foot bus with black windows, plush seats, a brass pole and a dance floor sat in the police impound lot Monday.

Police seized $2,000 from the portable party and also impounded a 2003 Chevrolet Venture minivan owned by Deja Vu. The van is covered with a pink advertisement featuring photos of women and the license tag "SHOWGLS."

Police said Deja Vu rented the party bus, which is advertised online, for $500 for Sunday. Lirot said the vehicle also is used for "rolling bachelor parties."

Each dancer is accused of violating two city ordinances, prohibiting nudity in a commercial establishment and in a place where alcohol is sold. Each is punishable by up to a year in a county jail.

Those ordinances apply to zoning issues, not moral ones, Lirot said. "How would you have any zoning impact if you're in a different zone every few feet?" he said.

Undercover officers found the bus parked in Lot 14 in the 3300 block of West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard after seeing people hand out fliers advertising the party onboard, Todd said.

Lirot said representatives for the club told him they obtained a permit to distribute the fliers. He did not know the exact language on the fliers.

Aside from a pink tarp hung outside the bus, the vehicle offered little inkling of the goings-on within, Todd said. Once each officer paid the $20 cover charge, they discovered the women in "various stages of undress," offering topless lap dances for $20 and nude lap dances for $40, he said.

Six to eight customers were inside, Todd said.

Police charged two dancers with a misdemeanor alleging they performed oral sex on each other, which Lirot disputed. "Simulating sexual activity is part of an exotic dance performance," he said.

Two dancers, Nohelia Terrell, 24, of St. Petersburg, and Katrena Wolf, 27, of Pinellas Park, were released from the Orient Road Jail on Sunday after posting bail. The others were released on their own recognizance, officials said.

Lirot said the business should not be punished for promoting exotic dance, which he called a form of expression protected by the First Amendment. As long as partygoers exercise discretion and do not violate state statutes, "what goes on in the bus should stay on the bus," he said.

"I still have the question: Why bring this to a Bucs game?"
TAMPA POLICE SGT. BILL TODD