County Was Unaware That Strippers Would Be At Golf Tournament

WAYNE, NJ — County officials said they were unaware of the strippers at a local golf tournament until they saw footage of lap dances and lewd acts filmed at the July 25 event.

Passaic County officials said they did not see footage from Sunrise Gentlemen's Club of Paterson golf tournament at the Preakness Valley Golf Club until NBC4 showed it to them.

"The events from the video should have been brought to the attention of county staff during the golf outing so that these golfers could have been removed from the course," said Keith Furlong, a county spokesman. "County staff would have removed these golfers if they saw this going on."

Nick Roca, the county's director of parks, approves all golf tournaments. Moving forward, Furlong said, all tournaments will go through a second approval process by the administration before they are allowed to use the course.

It was the sixth time the tournament had been held at the county-owned course. A letter from Thomas Bernard, the event's alleged organizer, to the club, said that previous events had "benefitted a number of charity organizations," and funding donations to the Passaic County Sheriff's Department and Paterson PBA Local 1.

The letter made no mention of strippers. The police were not called and no charges of lewd conduct were filed, according to Furlong.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Related: Wayne Residents 'Horrified' After Strippers Filmed At Public Golf Course Charity Event