02252005 - News Article - Bar nudity draws charges - HOBART: Women arrested, bar cited after fashion show

Bar nudity draws charges
HOBART: Women arrested, bar cited after fashion show
NWI Times
Feb 25, 2005
nwitimes.com/news/local/bar-nudity-draws-charges/article_34ede857-1eeb-578d-a9d1-8386b507e8a3.html
HOBART | Undercover police arrested three women this week on charges they exposed themselves at a city tavern, Lt. Leo Finnerty said.

Acting on an anonymous tip, Hobart detectives assisted Indiana State Excise Police in following up on a report of nudity during a fashion show at the Beer Barrel, 4717 E. U.S. 30.

Undercover officers who visited the bar Tuesday evening allege three women were at least partially nude at some point during the performance, Finnerty said.

Excise police cited the bar and arrested Marcie Bernacchi, 44, of Crown Point, Lorena Navarro, 24, of Chicago Heights, Ill., and Sara Redman, 34, of Crescent City, Ill.

"They (police) might have been intoxicated and thought they saw something," said Ned Pujo, whose wife, Yolande, owns the bar. "I think it's bull. ... It's ridiculous what they are doing anymore. It is becoming a police state."

The women are each charged with misdemeanor public indecency, Finnerty said. The three face up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000 if found guilty.

"This is not the type of thing that is going to go on in the city, and we will be checking in on all complaints like that," Finnerty said.

Indiana State Excise Police, the law enforcement division of the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, cited the Beer Barrel in 2001 for public indecency in connection with nudity at the business, Excise Police Sgt. Michelle Traughber said.

"The complaint at the time was that they were having fashion shows and that models were exposing themselves," she said. Nudity is illegal under Indiana law.

Traughber said fashion shows in which women model lingerie and raffle adult videos and other items are popular in Illinois where nudity laws are less stringent than in Indiana.

"They are independent contractors that come here," said Ned Pujo, who oversees the bar for his wife. "I don't sit there and baby-sit. They have had it here for years and this is only the second problem we have had in 20 some years."