Dallas Cops Arrest 11 In Bathhouse Raid

Claiming to be acting on a complaint, Dallas police arrested eleven men in a raid on the Club Dallas bathhouse on Friday.

Ten patrons of The Club reportedly were charged with either public lewdness or indecent exposure, while one employee was charged with interfering with police. DPD would only release records related to three of the 11 arrests, saying Dallas Voice needed to file a freedom of information request to obtain additional details. Laura Martin, DPD’s liaison officer to the gay community, said the vice unit raided the establishment on Swiss Avenue in response to a complaint. But police wouldn’t say who had complained. Martin said she believes it marked the first time since 2003 vice officers have gone in to the 34-year-old establishment, one of nine similar clubs nationwide. “We’ve done operations in that club since the late ’70s. There just hasn’t been one in a while because there hasn’t been a complaint,” Martin said. “They [officers] were in there for a legitimate reason, and obviously there was illegal activity going on or that many arrests wouldn’t have been made.”

Club Dallas bailed its customers and employee out of jail and have offered them legal representation. The men face up to a year in prison. According to the above-linked Dallas Voice story, the bathhouse is considered a public venue despite its members-only policy.

Interesting that this took place weeks before an election, eh?