Former Meriden Strip Club Owners Suing City

The former owners of a now-defunct strip club that shut down following a city raid more than three years ago are suing for more than $12 million on accusations the department violated their civil rights in the 2009 raid.

In their lawsuit, which was filed in state court but transferred to U.S. District Court in March, brothers Daniel and David Henderson also allege that the city illegally forced the sale of their 2041 Club property, located on the Berlin Turnpike, and later arrested David Henderson on numerous charges, including promoting prostitution, without probable cause.

The department’s actions, the two brothers say in their legal action, caused David Henderson to suffer “financial, emotional and/or physical pain and suffering.”

The city, in a brief filing in the lawsuit in March, denied all of the allegations and is preparing a more detailed defense.

David Henderson is currently serving a five-year prison sentence on convictions, in 2011, of promoting prostitution and racketeering. Daniel Henderson is representing himself and his brother in the lawsuit.

The legal action names detectives John Williams and Richard Baustein as defendants. It seeks $850,000 in losses from what the Hendersons say was the forced sale of the club, at below market value, after it was shut down by police; $1.2 million from lost club earnings and roughly another $1 million in compensatory damages for numerous counts of alleged violations of the brothers’ constitutional rights.

In addition, the lawsuit seeks “punitive damages in treble amount,” which would bring the total amount sought by the brothers to nearly $12 million.

Decades before it was raided and closed down early in 2009 Club 2041 had become a thorn in the city’s side, with some claiming that city police officers were using the services of prostitutes there. Two city police officers who have by the chief for some officers and turning a blind eye toward instances of police brutality, have alleged that some officers frequented the club and prostitutes there, according to this story in the Meriden Record-Journal.

The Hendersons, the story says, also have previously alleged that officers frequented the club.