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Subscribe to RSSAn owner of an Arlington, Texas, strip club was charged Tuesday with trying to hire hit men to kill Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck and a city attorney involved in an ongoing legal fight with the bar.
Ryan Walker Grant, co-owner of Flashdancer, offered to pay $10,000 for each murder, an FBI agent wrote in a criminal complaint.
Flashdancer recently agreed to close for one year to settle a nuisance lawsuit filed by the city of Arlington and the Texas attorney general.
"They just jacked me for a year of business, and they're trying to jack me indefinitely," Grant was quoted as telling the supposed hit man, who was secretly cooperating with federal agents.
The FBI also said Grant requested that people from Mexico come to North Texas and commit the murders so they could quickly leave the country. He said he would use his child as an alibi, the complaint said.
The names of the city officials allegedly targeted were not mentioned in the court documents, but a city news release Tuesday night confirmed they were Mayor Cluck and contract city attorney Tom Brandt.
Both expressed appreciation for the FBI investigation.
"I feel confident this case will be thoroughly investigated," Cluck said in the statement. "We as a city council must always act in the best interests of the city of Arlington. I believe we've done that and will continue to do so."
Grant was arrested Monday by FBI agents after he met with the supposed hit man at Grant's Kennedale home, according to the criminal complaint.
Grant appeared before a federal judge Tuesday afternoon and was ordered held without bond until a detention hearing on Friday.
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The Drug Enforcement Administration was also involved in the investigation.
Steven Swander, a Fort Worth attorney who represented Grant in the city lawsuit, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Grant's father Ron said his son was upset about losing business but would never have tried to hurt anyone.
"Oh good Lord no, because as far as -- he was looking forward to re-opening," Ron Grant said. "He certainly didn't have any, you know, animosity -- well, he wasn't happy about it. But he didn't voice any desires to harm anyone about it, that's for sure."
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This is what happens in Texas when a mayor doesn't pay his lap dance tab.
Tit for tat?
HaHaHa!!
I've been to this club. I love it because it's BYOC (Bring Your Own Cocaine) And the women are very nice too, they actually make eye contact with you during the lap dance and are only minimally stoned.
"Grant requested that people from Mexico come to North Texas and commit the murders"
Why wouldn't he just get zimmerman to do it for free?
Zimmerman is innocent.
Ok Steven!! Let me guess because you're so sure of that, you will be donating your kid’s college tuition to his living expenses?
As for this specific situation, I'm glad everyone is safe and they were able to foil this idiots little plan!! Then again maybe he's innocent too!
You guessed wrong.
You see, this is the USA, where people are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
They said Richard Jewel was guilty too. Same for the Duke lacrosse players.
People who jump to conclusions with no facts are weak-minded.
Steven,
I never said he was innocent or guilty, that's why you are the weak minded one, hence why you can't read well! Now be a good boy, and go back and read my post again!
I read your original post and now I am watching you spin.
Holy crap, this is not about the case in FL. Both of you are wrong based on the fact that we have no more information than what the media has been pipping to us. Drop it and let the case play out. We get so emotional about things that are out of our control and then go off and start yelling at each other. Relax people, just relax.
Duh! I said he could be hired for free!! What is wrong with you? How about we stick to the story at hand now and you can take you're zimmerman $hit to another vine. Don't forget to donate to him while you're at it. Watching me spin? You're just weird
Jahmekan, I agree with you and we should be sticking to the story here..
fnkheehaw
Well DUH! YOU did bring George into the thread. The fact that George is requesting donations would indicate he does not work for free... or doesn't work.
Now that's funny!!
trollolol
Wild guess here, but the prosecutor in the Zimmerman case is going to seek elected office and that's why they decided on no grand jury- they don't have a snowballs chance of getting an indictment, let alone a conviction.
This way the prosecutor can say, "Well, I brought charges, sorry we didn't get a conviction, it's the jury's fault for not understanding the law. Elect me to something, please! Oh, Mr/Mrs. President, I had a high-profile case, promote me within DOJ!"
It's now a political game with your tax dollars, not paying any attention to the fact that when/if the case is either dismissed or a hung-jury/not guilty verdict is returned that you risk riots from those that are looking for a reason to raise some hell, usually from outside the community (like we see here in Oakland)
It's a sick game.
The FBI is looking for an excuse to detain and search the strippers.
Loser.
Good work dipstick... Now that club of yours will be closed for good and you will be in jail giving lapdances to your cellmates... ;-)
What's the world coming to? Ain't nothin wrong with strippers shakin their ass for cash. The mayor must be a pillow biter.
Good grief, another parent that thinks their child is an angel........
So why were they trying to shut the place down?
Inquiring minds want to know....
DEA is involved, so that should leave some indication
Ooooh. That would explain it.
thanks.
Arlington used to have quite a few strip joints along Highway 360, near Six Flags Over Texas. In the past few years, as Cowboy Stadium and the Rangers Stadium opened in the same immediate area, the city has been aggressively shutting down the strip joints in order to make for a more "family friendly" environment. I believe that now that Flashdancer is gone, there is only one strip joint remaining in Arlington.
What really happened was that the mayor ordered the club owner to hire better looking girls or to stop being discriminatory towards male strippers (for the former Aggie's and city attorney) - 2 double-wides, outside of the city limits would have solved this issue.
Why did he ask people to come north from Mexico? Why not just cruise the texas border area? He surely would have found what he was looking for! Wow.
He invited a hit-man to his house? The man is not smart enough to run any business
lol, agreed.
Hit men need love, too.
Flashdancer? What a great name. Maybe that was where the naked lady at DIA was heading. Bet they would let her smoke there.
Come on now folks, we know this is Texas. I only lived there for 1 year but it was clear as day when I loved there! If you don't pay big bucks to the local cops, major and Rick Perry you are going to get into trouble.
$1 million to Rick Perry gets you the rights to stock pile radioactive waste on top of the largest
aquifer in the US! (actually, for $1 million you get Rick Perry to get the oversight board to claim the aquifer has mysteriously moved after 30 million years)
The stripclub owner was clearly not paying enough or the right people to keep trouble from his door.
That's funny...I haven't paid a dime to the cops, mayor, or Perry in bribe fees--and I haven't gotten into trouble at all! And I've lived here for 36 years. That's strange...?
Oh, wait--that's probably because I live like a decent person rather than a sleazy pile of crap who doesn't deserve to waste one more molecule of decent air left to breathe.
The justice in this story is that hopefully in prison he will now get treated just like he treats women--as a commodity. Saddle up, cowboy! ;)
I know someone that has actually been to that particular club, and from thier desciption of the talent there, that guy needed about a year to get some new recruits. And oh by the way, it doesnt help the guy that his club is smack - dab across from the new Cowboy's Stadium (the only strip club within about 10 or 15 miles of it)
For those of you that have google earth, pull it up and see for yourselves...
I live in texas, Arlington used to be ok but now the whole city and the city admistration are a bunch of rednecks who want to impose their will on everyone, I am sure the guy was being hasseled so much they thought they could drive him out of their pristine little @!$%#ty, I mean city, Arlington Sucks BIG TIME
That Federal government can be kind of useful sometimes.
They still Hire "Hitmen" In the United States?
Stand your ground man.The Mayor was a threat......
Anyway who cares ? They are from Texas .They can all shoot each other for all I care.
Finally ;hitman from Mexico? Buy local.
Surely Rick Perry and the GOP will step in to save this "job creator."
so they can "Do the Work Americans Won't Do"
- copyright 2007, GW Bush
The club was allowing drug deals to happen in plain sight in the club. They also had many police calls to the club for numerous offenses such as fighting and gunshots. They also allowed illegal "contact" between the dancers and the customers. This was not a high class strip club, it was a hole in the wall that did not follow the law. I am all for free enterprise, even strip clubs, but they must follow the law.
We are even outsourcing assasins?
Another made up case by the FBI they love this stuff
He has to hire a criminal (illegal) alien to do the hit for that paltry sum. Illegals work cheap. An American hit man would charge a minimum $100,000 for a normal hit. Probably $200,000 for a government employee, like a mayor.
Texas - the Wild, Wild West. The man has a valid reason. The city first issues a license for a business that always invite violence and criminal activities and yet expect the business to operate without it. Whether its NY or Chicago, Miami or Seattle it happens everywhere every single day. Don't issue a license and start a business and then close it down for obvious events.
I like the comment "High class strip club". Like any of them are "High Class". ROFLMAO