TAMPA – Mixing illegal alcohol sales with naked, dancing women landed the Sugar Shack’s staff in Orient Road Jail on Saturday morning, sheriff’s spokesman J.D. Callaway said.
Hillsborough County deputies raided the east Tampa bottle club. The sheriff’s office intends to ask county commissioners to revoke the business’ operating permit based on evidence gathered in the raid, which included drug and alcohol seizures, he said.
“The Sugar Shack bottle club has been a nuisance to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for weeks,” Callaway said. “There have been hundreds of calls for service to the establishment and the surrounding area.”
In January, a customer was shot to death outside the Sugar Shack, 5636 E. Hillsborough Ave., after an argument with a tow-truck driver. The driver was charged with murder.
Hillsborough County has more bottle clubs than any other county in the state. They cannot sell alcohol, but they can legally sell mixers to customers who bring bottles of alcohol. Police say such clubs foster violence, theft, drugs and prostitution.
In December, county commissioners granted a request by Sheriff David Gee not to issue more bottle club permits after Feb. 1. Existing clubs that break the law could lose their permits permanently.
Undercover detectives went in the Sugar Shack for weeks looking for violations, Callaway said. As a result, two managers, three bartenders and 12 exotic dancers face charges, ranging from selling alcohol without a permit to allowing nudity in an establishment where alcohol is being consumed.
Detectives seized marijuana, crack cocaine, prescription pills, beer and hard liquor, Callaway said. One manager, Gregory Roberts, also was charged with possession of the prescription drug Vicodin, a pain medication, jail records show.
The club’s owner, JIM-N-I Investments, will be cited by the county code enforcement office for wiring deficiencies, insect infestation and for the business being considered a public nuisance.
The fire marshal’s office intends to issue citations for blocked exits, cooking on the premises when not allowed and for issues concerning the alarm and sprinkler systems, Callaway said.