JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Numerous complaints about a nightclub in Arlington led to the arrests of two people accused of running an illegal business, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The place, called the Razzle Dazzle, has been ordered to remain closed because police said the people running the joint did not have a liquor license or an adult entertainment license.
Jacqueline Rutledge and her daughter, Diana Kimmel, are proud to call Arlington their home. But when they found out that police and the fire marshal raided the Razzle Dazzle over the weekend, they said that they weren’t surprised.
“The area has really gone downhill the past years,” Kimmel said.
Both women were pleased to learn that police received tips about alleged illegal activity at the nightspot located inside a strip mall on Arlington Road.
“I think that it’s good they found out about it and they did something about it," Rutledge said.
According to investigators, Tavares Walker, 42, and Quantanell Walker, 35, were arrested early Sunday morning after the vice squad and the fire marshal raided the building and found dancers and alcohol being sold. Neither suspect had applied for an adult entertainment license nor did they have an active license to sell alcohol, investigators said.
The fire marshal issued a cease-and-desist order, which shows the building is unsafe to the public and has life-threatening hazards and insufficient exits. The fire marshal also noted in the cease-and-desist order that an illegal business was operating in the space.
One woman told News4Jax that she was at the spot several weeks ago on a Saturday night. She said she assumed it was a legitimate nightclub. Even if that were the case, nightclubs were not allowed to be open because of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, a sign telling people to wear a mask could be seen on the window of the building, and the cease-and-desist order could be seen on the door.
Another woman told News4Jax she went to a party at the Razzle Dazzle around the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. She said she didn’t think there was anything illegal there at the time.
Earlier this month, more than 100 people were found inside an underground nightclub when the Sheriff’s Office raided the off-the-books operation near Goodby’s Creek. That crackdown resulted in two arrests and a cease-and-desist order for those operating what police called an illegal nightclub, according to a booking report for one of the arrestees.