Sunday, January 23, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

WEEK IN REVIEW: FBI arrests club manager

Federal agents search Crazy Horse Too shift manager Robert "Bobby" D'Apice in the club parking lot Wednesday while arresting him on racketeering charges. D'Apice did not respond to a question posed by a Review-Journal reporter who witnessed the arrest. Photo by John Gurzinski. "Buffalo" Jim Barrier Auto repair business owner and amateur photographer

After becoming locked in a legal dispute with his landlord, Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo, "Buffalo" Jim Barrier picked up a new hobby: photography.

Barrier, who owns an auto repair business next door to the Industrial Road strip club, began taking pictures of what he describes as the "carnage" in the Crazy Horse Too parking lot.

"You've got ambulances, people wrecking cars, bodies laying around, bouncers beating people's faces bloody, people who've been in there for 25 hours and come out and pass out," he said. "There's a lot of that I can't catch."

Barrier witnessed the Wednesday arrest of Crazy Horse Too shift manager Robert "Bobby" D'Apice in the club parking lot, and praised the "militarylike precision" of the gun-wielding federal agents. "It was bing, bang, boom," Barrier said.

A racketeering indictment claims D'Apice and unnamed others used force to make customers pay disputed charges.

D'Apice was the first person arrested in the decadelong investigation into the club. Rizzolo attorney Tony Sgro says he fears authorities will charge his client in order to justify the expense of their investigation.

In an earlier interview, Rizzolo denied having involvement in criminal activity and said his club makes more than $10 million a year. "It makes so much money, I wouldn't do something stupid to jeopardize it," he said.

Testifying before a federal grand jury in January 2003, D'Apice said he never saw any club employee use force to make a customer pay a bill.

"Can you think of any occasion in which you utilized some level of physical force to take a customer to an ATM machine at the Crazy Horse Too to take out money to pay a dancer?" a prosecutor asked.

"No, sir," D'Apice replied.

Citing these and other statements, prosecutors charged D'Apice with making false statements to a grand jury.

MONDAY

Controversial deal considered, delayed

The Review-Journal reported that the Las Vegas City Council may relieve Boyd Gaming of its obligation to build a parking garage on city land it bought for $1 in 1994. The taxable value of the property is $6 million, but Boyd would get clear title to the land by donating $1.68 million to a downtown performing arts center. On Wednesday, city officials decided to postpone the vote.

TUESDAY

Seniors protest assessed valuations

Dan Roberts, publisher and editor of the senior citizen newspaper Vegas Voice, submitted appeals on behalf of 863 individuals who answered his call to protest skyrocketing assessed valuations. Roberts said the homeowners will drop their appeals if the Legislature approves a 6 percent cap.

WEDNESDAY

Walk of Stars organizers stumble

Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke noted that Las Vegas Walk of Stars organizers stumbled a bit in announcing future honorees. Absent from the list of 100 were Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, while Broadway icon Pearl Bailey was listed as Bailey Pearl. Fan clubs, sponsors and entertainers pay for the stars, which cost $15,000 apiece.

THURSDAY

Terror threat mentions Las Vegas

Las Vegas was mentioned this week in a terror threat linked to Washington, D.C., and Inauguration Day. The threat involved the use of car bombs hidden in taxis, limousines, buses and other commercial vehicles, Sheriff Bill Young said. No specific location in Las Vegas was mentioned.

FRIDAY

Judge strikes strip club ordinance

District Judge Sally Loehrer struck down as unconstitutional a city ordinance dictating what dancers can and can't do in city strip clubs. Loehrer said the ordinance, which prevents dancers from touching and caressing strip club customers, is too vague.

COMPILED BY PETER O'CONNELL

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