Threat charge against Richmond strip-club owner is withdrawn

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Written by: 195 on Mar 12, 2010

Richmond prosecutors yesterday withdrew a charge of threatening a law-enforcement officer that had been filed against the owner of a Shockoe Bottom strip club.

Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Tracy Thorne-Begland said he withdrew the charge against Samuel J.T. Moore III, owner of Velvet, because a witness failed to show up for yesterday's trial.

The misdemeanor charge stems from a Jan. 12 incident in which a Velvet employee called police and reported that Moore owed her money, Thorne-Begland said.

When officer Michael J. Ahnstrom arrived, he found the employee outside Velvet yelling into her cell phone. The officer got on the phone and told a man on the other end that the woman was willing to leave if he would pay her, Thorne-Begland said.

The man told Ahnstrom to remove the woman and that she was trespassing. He also told Ahnstrom that if he refused to do his job, the man would beat up the officer, Thorne-Begland said.

Thorne-Begland said he had hoped the woman would testify in Richmond General District Court that the man the officer had been speaking with on the phone was in fact Moore, but she didn't show up.

Defense attorney Michael Morchower, after the hearing, questioned why a police officer would get involved in a workplace dispute over money.

"I thought they were out there trying to arrest people who were selling drugs and shooting each other," Morchower said.

In February, the state revoked the liquor license for Velvet, although the business is able to keep serving alcohol until it exhausts its appeals.

An administrative hearing officer for the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control last month found Velvet guilty of nine charges, including allowing minors to buy and consume alcohol at the club.

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