BAJA CLUB REOPENS WITH COPS

When kids want to dance, they dance.

And despite the presence of 25 uniformed cops, the re-opened Baja Beach Club
on Delaware Avenue was jumping last night.

On a narrow stage overlooking the packed dance floor, teen-age girls -
wearing tube tops and mini-skirts - danced with each other and eyed guys
around the room.

The guys - wearing T-shirts, baseball caps and nervous smiles - watched the
girls and occasionally got the courage to make a move.

And though some of the young people who went to the club grumbled about all
the cops, after a while it didn't seem to make much difference.

Kevin DiMatteo, 20, was philosophical about it: "At least I don't have to
put the Club on my car," he said.

The Baja, near Poplar Street in Old City, was shut down Friday night during
a raid involving dozens of local, state and federal officials, said Acting
City Solicitor William Martin.

Authorities said the raid followed an eight-week investigation during which
undercover officers allegedly bought drugs from club employees. The
investigation also found nudity and other wild activities at the club,
authorities said.

The club was allowed to re-open last night for a special all-night affair
due to the long holiday weekend.

On Friday night, authorities seized an undisclosed amount of marijuana,
cocaine, Ecstasy and a designer drug called GHB, authorities said. Officials
revoked the popular club's operating and liquor licenses and shut the place
down. Several hundred patrons were ordered to leave the club.

Joseph A. Diorio, who represents J.H. Properties Inc., which owns the club,
denied any wrongdoing.

"We categorically deny that there is any illegal activity happening on the
part of the management at the Baja Beach Club," he said. "We have zero
tolerance for drug-related activity or any illegal activity."

At an emergency hearing Saturday night, an undercover officer testified that
during the course of his investigation he had purchased drugs from an
employee, observed frequent drug use, including open smoking of marijuna and
use of what appeared to be the drug Ecstasy, Martin said.

The officer testified that he observed nudity by patrons and stunts by
bartenders, such as when they lit the bar on fire, causing flames reaching
five feet above the bar, Martin said.

Common Pleas Judge Gregory E. Smith granted the club a temporary restraining
order Saturday night to temporarily reinstate its operating license. Diorio
said Smith ordered the city to return more than $3,000 in cash that was
seized during the raid.

Smith allowed the club to open last night but only if it reimbursed the city
for the cost of paying 25 uniformed police officers and three L&I inspectors
to patrol the club, Martin said.

The large number of officers was needed because of all the illegal activity
that had been observed in the club, and to protect the public safety, police
officials said.

Police said that the investigation into the club was continuing.

"It would have been our preference if they would have stayed closed, but we
were pleased that the judge imposed the limitations he did," Martin said.
"It demonstrates that he recognized that they were operating in a way that
was contrary to law."

Lawyers representing the club will seek an injunction Tuesday to continue
operating, Martin said.

David Preefer, president of J.H. Properties, said in an interview last night
that the investigation and raid were part of a larger effort by the city to
close the clubs on Delaware Avenue.

City officials want to "clean up" Delaware Avenue for the Republican
National Convention, and to encourage waterfront development, he said.

Preefer said he has never seen drugs at the club. "This is the cleanest
place in town," he said.