Providence police played during a license hearing Wednesday a surveillance videotape recorded at a strip club the night a man was killed.
Police are trying to restrict the operations of Club Balloons, which has been temporarily closed. The videotape was played as evidence at a hearing of the Providence Board of Licenses.
Police said the videotape shows chaos at the club. But the club's lawyer said it wasn't as bad as described.
The videotape shows action outside Club Balloons in the early morning hours of July 11, when Paulo Jorge Barbosa, 29, of Pawtucket was shot several times and killed.
Police said there was a melee -- people throwing punches, jumping on top of one person, stomping, and shirts being ripped off.
The disturbance came right around closing time as Club Balloons cleared out at about 5 a.m.
At one point outside, police said the club manager and bouncers grabbed a machete and baseball bats out of a car. Then at some point during the brawl, there was a shooting, which is not shown on the tape.
The videotape shows people gathered nearby and then some of them running. The videotape shows some commotion inside, where it appears club workers hear what's happened.
Police showed the videotape to the city Board of Licenses, hoping the board will bar Club Balloons from offering nude dancing and forcing it to close earlier.
Officials with the club said it will improve security.
Club Balloons remains closed pending a decision from the licensing board.
I was impressed by the good video quality of the cameras at this strip clubs lol.
Comments
Sheesh...guess I made the right call not going here recently! Balloons is one of the few strip clubs in RI where you must get patted down & go through a metal detector in order to get in. They also have the distinction of being the RI strip club that stays open the latest on the weekend. It's located in a complex that's right next to the infamous Cheaters, but the rest of the area around the two club complexes looks like it was hit by a flight of B-52s.
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