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STATESVILLE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) - Multiple weapons and marijuana were found after authorities raided an illegal strip club that was located inside a Statesville home, according to the Iredell County Sheriff's Office.
On Friday, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles License and Theft, and the Iredell County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant of 'Buster's Strip Club', an illegal adult entertainment night club located at 667 Bethesda Road in Statesville.
Authorities said the owner and operator, David Lee Yates Jr., 58, of Statesville, was the only person present during the execution and was charged with selling alcoholic beverages without obtaining a license from the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
David Yates, Jr. allowed FOX 46 cameras into his garage Monday, saying the investigation was a misundersanding. He said investigators took the stripper pole and a giant swing as part of evidence.
Yates Jr. tells FOX 46 Charlotte what happened in his garage was not a strip club, but is a man cave. He admits that women friends did come over and use the stripper pole, but only as a form of exercise. He says he never made money off the women.
Law enforcement officers seized spirituous liquor, malt beverages, and marijuana. Multiple weapons were also present in the club, they said.
Anonymous complaints from the community sparked ALE's initial investigation into the location.
"These locations attract individuals who buy and sell illegal controlled substances, weapons and violence which puts a strain on local law enforcement services. This is part of ALE's Community Betterment initiative which partners with local law enforcement to help shut down these types of locations and improve the quality of life within a community," Special Agent in Charge Meredith Shoaf said.