Tuesday, July 22, 2008

UPDATED: Duncanville’s Cherry Pit swingers’ club raided — again

By Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

Updated 08:19 a.m., July 23, 2008

DUNCANVILLE — Duncanville’s most infamous residence is in the news again as police executed a search warrant at The Cherry Pit on Saturday July 19. Police took photos of guests and seized evidence including wallets, purses and credit cards.

“The Cherry Pit, located in a Duncanville neighborhood, is advertised as a swingers’ club and has been previously cited for violating the City of Duncanville Code of Ordinances,” city staff said in a press release.

Jim Trulock and Julie Norris operate The Cherry Pit out of their North Cedar Ridge Drive residence. Trulock, 59, and Norris, 30, have made national news for their battle against the city. The homeowners say the city is violating their personal freedoms and trying to legislate morality. City officials counter saying the home’s activities have become a nuisance and potential health hazard. The home has received 10 citations, five for operating a sex club and five for operating a sexually oriented business without a license.

The home was Duncanville’s dirty little not-so-secret for years but in November the city council took action, passing legislation banning sex clubs. That set off a chain of legal dominoes with the club filing suit against the city in December and the city filing a suit in January.

Local and national talk shows have had a field day with the age gap between and decidedly unglamorous appearance of the sex club owners. Trulock’s head sports a large black mole that has drawn as much attention in the local media as former Russian premier Mikhail Gorbachev’s discoloration did internationally.

The antics at The Cherry Pit, famous for games of Naked Twister, are in stark contrast to the family friendly image Duncanville tries to present. It even became an issue in May’s election as challenger Rose Renfroe blasted Mayor David Green, accusing him of being slow to act where the club was concerned. As much as city leaders would like this problem to go away, it shows no signs of doing so any time soon. The constitutionality of Duncanville’s ordinance was to be heard this week but got postponed.

UPDATE (by editor): The Cherry Pit was raided again Tuesday July 23, this time by the TABC. Alcohol was not on the initial search warrant Saturday, so the second raid was necessary to confiscate a "very large amount" of booze. Choice quote from Cherry Pit attorney Ed Klein: "...the TABC is busting down doors, having their fun with the place." Um, Ed, I think your clients have the most fun with this particular place.

Updated by Alex B.

Related stories

• Besieged Cherry Pit in Duncanville raided again (Sept. 22, 2008)
• Owners of Cherry Pit in Duncanville arrested (Sept. 17, 2008)
• Duncanville sex club attorneys lose bid to have evidence suppressed (Aug. 9, 2008)
• Duncanville doesn’t want Swingtown image (July 24, 2008)
• Pegasus News Week in View: Hello Dolly edition (July 24, 2008)

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• Politics and Government > City Government > Duncanville

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