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Oh sure, it looks easy. And there isn’t any sort of rigorous training or certification required, but it’s always best to leave stripping to the professionals. Just ask Natalie M. Behnke of Clearwater. She tried to strip down and collect money at the Baby Dolls club in Tampa Bay but wasn’t employed there. Instead she was arrested and fined $450.
Behnke — who according to the St. Pete Times is a “habitual juvenile offender”-turned-“25-year-old transient” — got up onstage at Baby Dolls, took off her clothes, shook her stuff, and asked customers for money Tuesday night. This pleased neither the staff nor the professional strippers.
The club asked her to leave, but Behnke refused. She then got into arguments with the dancers.
Staffers were forced to call police, who removed her from the club at 11:50 p.m. and charged her with “disorderly intoxication.”
Behnke showed up in court yesterday, pleaded no contest, and was slapped with a $450 fine. If you’re losing money by taking off your clothes, you’re doing something wrong.
Behnke isn’t new to the criminal justice system. After numerous arrests as a minor, she has been collared five times this year for charges ranging from driving with a suspended license to larceny. Previous arrests identify her as “homeless.”
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