COLUMBUS – A judge ordered the doors of an East Side strip club boarded up Wednesday after a history of crime and violence.
Columbus City Attorney Richard Pfeiffer, Jr.’s office asked Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Daniel Hawkins for an emergency restraining order after filing a for a temporary and permanent injunctions against the owners of Rachel’s Gentleman’s Club, 6065 Channingway Boulevard, that Pfeiffer says has been “plagued for years by violence, including shootings and assaults and robberies against both employees and customers.”
The complaint filed by Pfeiffer’s office says Rachel’s has generated more than 135 calls for service since 2015.
The list includes seven police calls this year, one of which was on June 1, when officers found a victim lying in a parking lot immediately adjacent to the premises. The man later died as a result of his wounds.
The Ohio Division of Liquor Control upheld the city’s 2016 objection to a liquor license renewal for Rachel’s, but the club’s owner, Hetzbach Corporation, was granted a stay of the decision pending an appeal, Pfeiffer said.
A hearing on the city’s request for a permanent injunction against Hetzbach and its incorporators, Franz Schwarzbach and Ramona Hetzel, is scheduled for July 5, but Hawkins’ order allowed city officials to evacuate the club and board it up Wednesday afternoon.