Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.
Agents from the FBI, DEA, IRS and Metro Police raided the Crazy Horse Too topless club this morning as part of an ongoing federal investigation into allegations of hidden ownership by organized crime and other illegal activity at the club.
More than 80 officers, some armed with shotguns and rifles, jumped out of vans in front of the club at 2476 S. Industrial Road about 5 a.m. and rushed inside, witnesses said.
Authorities were tight-lipped about the raid.
"It's a sealed search warrant that's part of a sealed affidavit, so there's not a lot we can talk about," FBI spokesman Daron Borst said. "This is just one step in an ongoing, joint investigation."
He wouldn't provide details of the investigation and what kinds of materials investigators were seizing from the club.
Crazy Horse Too attorney Tony Sgro described the raid as a "huge fishing expedition" and said he was confident there was no wrongdoing at the club.
"We've been nothing but cooperative, but they came barrelling into the club at five in the morning with masks and weapons drawn," he said.
Sgro said the search warrants authorized the agents to obtain club records dating back to 1995.
He said the agents were looking for evidence of "covert ownership" of the club by organized crime figures, a charge the club's owner, Rick Rizzolo, has denied.
The politically connected Rizzolo, who has been linked to organized crime figures in the past, was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
The search warrants also authorized agents to seize documents relating to the club's finances, as well as altercations and other incidents at the club dating back to 1995, Sgro said.
Agents also were searching for such drugs as cocaine, methamphetamine and GHB, a growth hormone, and the club-drug Ecstasy, Sgro said.
As of 10 a.m., Sgro said, agents had not found any drugs other than a small amount of marijuana in a dancer's locker. But agents carted away computers, cash registers and a variety of business records and loaded them into trucks in the back of the property, Sgro said.
Sgro said new cash registers were being purchased so the club could reopen as soon as this afternoon, after the raid is completed.
The Crazy Horse Too reportedly has been the subject of a federal grand jury probe since last fall.
Aside from the topless club's reputed ties to organized crime, FBI agents are believed to be investigating a series of racketeering allegations, including beatings that occurred outside the club.
The most notable beating involved a Kansas City man, Kirk Henry, who has filed suit against the Crazy Horse Too, alleging his neck was broken in a Sept. 20, 2001, altercation with a bouncer at the club.
During today's raid agents burst through the doors and pointed a gun at her, the club's head cashier, Patti Pintarelli said.
"They told me not to touch anything and to put my hands on my head," she said while standing outside the club this morning. "I went to put some cash away and they stuck a gun about five inches from my face."
One of the agents, wearing a mask, got on the stage and was holding a machine gun, witnesses said.
Pintarelli said the agents put employees on one side of the club and customers on the other side. They checked employees' work cards and identification and let most of them go. They told customers they were free to leave.
Borst said authorities had the club under surveillance all night. They decided to raid the club at 5 a.m. because it was the least busy time, so there would be fewer people and the club wouldn't suffer as great a financial loss.
Yellow tape was around the front of the building and Metro officers and FBI agents guarded the door. Agents came through a door hidden in a Roman pillar outside the club.
As they left the club, some strippers put coats over their heads. One of them said they had been inside watching television news coverage of the raid while they waited to be told they could leave.
Some of the strippers used obscene language and gestures toward law enforcement officers and the media.
"Guns are scary and this is not cool," a stripper said as she exited the club.
Over the years, Rizzolo has been a regular contributor to local political campaigns. He most recently contributed $10,000 to the reelection campaign of Mayor Oscar Goodman, who once represented him when Goodman practiced law.
District Attorney David Roger returned $18,000 in campaign contributions from Rizzolo and his family during the middle of his race last year.
Rizzolo also has enjoyed a close relationship with City Councilman Michael McDonald. Metro Police investigated McDonald in 2000 over his role in business dealings involving Rizzolo, but filed no charges.
While maintaining his political connections, Rizzolo has been linked over the years to several organized crime figures, including Joseph Cusumano, once a reputed top lieutenant of slain mob kingpin Anthony Spilotro. Until his gangland slaying in 1986, Spilotro oversaw street rackets in Las Vegas for the Chicago mob.
Rizzolo has acknowledged that he once was close friends with Cusumano, who is listed in Nevada's Black Book of undesirables banned from casinos. But Rizzolo has insisted he no longer associates with him.
Another Spilotro associate, former Metro Police Officer Joseph Blasko, was employed at the Crazy Horse Too for years before his death last year.
In 1999 Rizzolo was with another reputed Chicago crime figure, Fred Pascente, when Pascente was arrested at McCarran International airport on charges of failing to register as an ex-felon in Nevada. Gaming regulators later included Pascente in the Black Book.
Late last year Rizzolo won approval from the city to hire Albert Rapuano, a former casino executive once investigated for ties to organized crime.
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