Las Vegas council revokes strip club’s licenses

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police investigators have arrested a man in connection with a December shooting at Larry'’s Villa, 2401 W. Bonanza Road. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file)

Defendant Kenneth Fletcher, charged with a fatal shooting at Larry's Villa in June, appears at Las Vegas Justice Court on Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Follow @jlscheid

Las Vegas city officials rattled off a litany of issues with strip club and bar Larry’s Villa, the site of a fatal shooting in June, before the City Council suspended and permanently revoked multiple business licenses Wednesday.

The council unanimously suspended and permanently revoked the recently shuttered establishment’s restricted gaming, tavern liquor, tobacco dealer and coin amusement machine licenses.

There was a “continual and repetitive pattern of illegal activity” occurring at Larry’s Villa, including stabbings, murder by firearm, battery, robberies and domestic disturbances, the city’s Business Licensing Manager Mary McElhone said.

The business was the subject of 490 calls for service by the Metropolitan Police Department from January 2014 to June 2016, for issues on and around the 2401 W. Bonanza Road property.

City officials said Larry’s Villa closed in late August, days after the city initiated a complaint for disciplinary action against the business. The city didn’t receive an answer or opposition to the complaint.

Brent Howard had been the operator and licensee of Larry’s Villa for nearly a decade, beginning when Larry Lapenta, the establishment’s namesake, died. Howard was named executor of his estate, Las Vegas Councilman Bob Beers said, noting that breaking the lease or closing the business could have resulted in lawsuits.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.