WESTMINSTER : Owner Vows to Sue Over Nude Dancing

The owner of a Westminster restaurant closed by police because of its nude dancers said Thursday he will take the issue to court.

Shangri-La, a restaurant on Garden Grove Boulevard near Golden West Street, had been open about a month when police raided it Wednesday night. Police said it was the only place in Orange County offering live, all-nude performances.

“They don’t have a conditional-use permit, and they don’t have a live-entertainment permit,” said City Atty. Richard P. Jones. “It’s no different for any other business in town.”

Seven police officers, aided by building and fire inspectors, conducted the raid and took five people into custody: the owner, Theron M. Smith, 58, of Alta Loma, as well as a bouncer, a manager, a dancer and a doorman. They were cited for misdemeanor infractions, and all were released except the dancer, Melody Sanders, 28, of Alta Loma. She was jailed on a perjury warrant, police said.

Lt. Bob Burnett, who led the raid, said nude performers are not wanted in Westminster and that “if they want to be here, they’ll have to fight to be here.”

“That’s normal, I guess,” said Smith, who promised a fight. He said he has retained Beverly Hills attorney Joshua Kaplan, known in Southern California for his longtime representation of the adult-entertainment industry. “We’re going to have a court case now,” Smith said.

Shangri-La shares a small, partially vacant shopping center with a liquor store and a bartender school. The restaurant sold no alcoholic beverages, so it was not controlled by the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which forbids nudity at establishments that sell alcohol.

Soft drinks and nonalcoholic beer and wine at Shangri-La were $3.50 a glass, and the cover charge was $5.