Tarrant County officials are moving to revoke a strip club's sexually oriented business permit and permanently shut down the club after another violent weekend left one dead and three injured.
According to the county sheriff's office, a customer at Temptations was asked to leave the fully nude BYOB club after a fight at about 3:15 a.m. Sunday, and while outside of the club, opened fire in the parking lot injuring three people. A security guard fired back, killing the armed customer.
Neighbors have pushed for the business to close, calling it a nuisance and saying it's operating too close to homes. Antonio Jimenez lives less than 200 yards away from the business. When he and his family moved there in 2021, he said he didn't think much of it.
Jimenez, who works in law enforcement, said there have been multiple incidents over the past two years.
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"A few shootings ago, we had several of the victims run towards this way. Of course, it’s such a short distance. I’m sure people were just running and frantic, trying to get away from the situation," he said. "I ended up having to arrest one of the guys who was one of the shooters if I recall right. Of course, that raises a concern. My wife’s freaking out. Children are freaking out."
Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez, who represents the area, agrees with people who have expressed concerns.
"This is a dangerous business that creates an unacceptable risk to our community and our law enforcement officers. Quite frankly, this business should have been shut down a decade ago," said Ramirez.
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Tarrant County officials have notified the club's owner, Eric Langan of Bellaire, Texas, that they have scheduled a hearing for 9 a.m. June 21 with the Tarrant County Sexually Oriented Business Board to determine if there's probable cause to revoke the business's SOB permit. After the hearing, the SOB board will determine if the permit should be revoked. If the permit is revoked, the owner has 20 days to file an appeal.
NBC 5 attempted to reach Langan for comment on Thursday through email, phone, and Facebook. Messages have not been returned as of this writing.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office released a statement Thursday saying from 2020 through 2022 there were more than 240 calls for service at the club, including 134 in 2022 alone, and that action to bring crime at the club to an end is long past due. The sheriff's office said calls ranged from murder to possession of a controlled substance. The Fort Worth Police said in 2022 they also responded to nearly three dozen calls at the club.
According to Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, his deputies have responded to 82 calls for service in 2023 alone.
"It is absolutely a problem. It is a blight on the community. There is always issues going on out there," Sheriff Waybourn said. "It’s a dangerous area. It attracts danger. It’s BYOB, so we’ve got alcohol there. We’ve got drugs. All of the elements of a recipe that will go bad."
Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells said his office is also getting into the fight. A public nuisance lawsuit has been against the property owner, Queen Shiva, LLC, which would allow the club to be closed permanently if it's approved.
The lawsuit describes the business as "a hotbed of crime".
“As District Attorney, I am concerned about the escalation of criminal activities at Temptations Cabaret constituting a nuisance. That is why I filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking injunctive relief to curtail the menace that is Temptations," Sorrells said. “My number one priority is keeping our community safe. Allowing Temptations to continue its operation is counterintuitive to this goal.”
In Sorrells' petition, he wrote "Temptations has a well-earned reputation among law enforcement and the community for being a haven of crime, with patrons that are intoxicated, disorderly, violent, and who deal and/or use narcotics."
Prior to the fatal shooting of a gunman who injured three others on May 28, the Tarrant County DA said a double stabbing and multiple other shootings were reported at the club earlier in the month, including five instances of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In August 2020 a man was killed and another was injured in a shooting outside the club.
