COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott is working to shut down a business that he says claims it's a restaurant, but is actually a strip club and "house of prostitution."
Lott held a news conference Tuesday about Tryst, a nightspot on River Drive in Columbia that he defined as a sexually-oriented business. Last Sunday morning, a stop work order was issued to the business by deputies. The order lets the business know they're in violation of county codes regarding those types of business, ask them to get in compliance, but does not shut them down.
"It was like they were daring us to do something, and we did," Lott said.
According to Lott, the property has traded owners several times over the years. It's been known by different names, including Chastity's and Crush, at times operating as a strip club before being shut down. But Lott said the current owners had gone to the county and the South Carolina Department of Revenue and asked to turn it into a restaurant that would serve food, close at midnight, and be good for the community.
Lott said that didn't happen; instead, he said the place turned into a strip club. "It was just a slap in the face to law enforcement and the community," he said.
He said undercover officers went into the place and took pictures that showed completely nude women dancing on a stage. There were also private rooms where customers would pay $300 to go behind the curtain. In there, Lott said, women were offering sex for money.
"Naked is being naked," Lott said. "When you're dancing and you have no clothes on, and you're taking money for sex, that's a sexually oriented business."
He said there the restaurant wasn't open and there was no food, and there were customers in the parking lot until at least 4 a.m.
"You went in there and you bought your alcohol, and you bought your lapdances, and then you went to the champagne room, and you went to the private cubby holes where all the stuff was going on," Lott said.
When the stop order was served, there were about a dozen dancers at the place, Lott said, and there were customers.
Lott said he's going to go back to a judge and the South Carolina Department of Revenue in an effort to get Tryst shut down by taking their business license. He said that process, however, could take 90 days.
According to a statement released by the South Carolina Department of Revenue, they opposed issuing an alcohol license to Tryst from the beginning.
The SCDOR made revoking Tryst’s license a priority since we learned about the violations of the Court order. They have started the revocation process, and said that the club has 90 days to protest the notice of intent to revoke the license.
The sttement goes on to say they believe "ultimate revocation is justified as Tryst is blatantly violating the Court order and the two restrictions on its license. However, the SCDOR cannot simply “close the doors” of Tryst without a court order obtained after affording Tryst due process under the law."
Sheriff Lott adds that the club operates across the street from a church and near a neighborhood. Before taking action, he'd gotten complaints from the community.
"We had to take action," he said.
This is just the latest in an effort by Lott to crack down on illegal clubs. In recent weeks, Club LaRoice and Mi Casita agreed to shut down. Lott said since he padlocked Club LaRoice, there have been no club shootings, which he said is unusual, since he said he's seen stretches were there are club shootings every week.
"I think the bad club owners are getting the message," Lott said. "We can't have our community living like this."