Local News in Brief : Chippendales Club Owner Faces Arrest

The owner of Chippendales was ordered to appear in court Jan. 31 or face immediate arrest after he failed to show up Wednesday for a court hearing for a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who danced in the nightclub’s all-male revue at the same time that he was pursing a permanent disability claim from the county.

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Alban I. Niles issued the order against the club’s owner, Somen (Steve) Banerjee, who was subpoenaed as a prosecution witness in the case of Deron Michael McBee, 28, whose preliminary hearing was continued to Jan. 31.

McBee, who faces a maximum prison sentence of four years if convicted of attempted grand theft, perjury and filing a false claim, signed legal papers in 1986 and 1987 stating that he could no longer work in law enforcement because of a back injury, prosecutors say. But while pursuing his claim, they say, McBee performed as an exotic dancer for Chippendales.

The muscular McBee, who no longer works for the nightclub, was recently featured in a newspaper advertisement for a San Fernando Valley gym. The ad, in which McBee wore nothing but a strategically placed towel, says, “It can happen to you at . . . the Firm Fitness Center.”