YOUNGSTOWN Ohio – www.tribtoday.com- The owner of an Austintown adult nightclub said Tuesday that township officials should have warned him of troubles they found there.

Sebastian Rucci defended his actions during a hearing before Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Lou D’Apolito on whether the Go Go Cabaret should be closed as a nuisance because of drug problems and other issues.

D’Apolito is expected to make a written ruling, which could come as soon as today.

Rucci said he could not personally be responsible for everyone who walked into the Go Go Cabaret.

”I think the police could have helped me the most,” Rucci said under questioning by his lawyer, Martin Yavorcik. ”I would’ve been happy to have guard dogs go through the place.”

The club was raided May 2 after police received rumors and complaints of drug activity and underage drinking. Several undercover buys of drugs were made at the club, and an agent for the state Department of Public Safety testified Friday that of six trips he made to the club, only one failed to result in some type of arrest.

A temporary restraining order keeping the club closed has been on since the raid. If prosecutors succeed in their nuisance complaint, the club would be closed for a year.

Rucci testified he is a lawyer and got involved in the adult entertainment business in college after a professor asked him to go over the plans of a club. He said he is intrigued by the constitutional issues surrounding adult clubs and making the club more than just a strip club.

Rucci testified there were some things he may have been able to do better but that he needed help from police and other township officials, who he said refused to meet with him.

He said he was working on hiring a former police officer to do security and wanted township police to work there but was told they have a policy against that.

Rucci acknowledged that there are some drug problems with some of the dancers in the trade, but said he did everything he could to make sure they stayed clean while working for him.

When asked why he did not make them take a drug test or go through background checks before being hired, he said that is not the norm in the industry and that most of those women do not stick around for a long period of time.

”They’re not the types who when they come in, you send them to a drug test and they come back two weeks later,” Rucci testified.