That team was officially disbanded by the department last spring. Rosser and Lancaster were relieved of duty in 2018, amid multiple FBI investigations into the Vice Unit. Timeline: Investigation Of Columbus Police Vice Unit

“And when these business owners tried to stand up and took issue with some of the things that the officers were trying to strong arm them into doing, the officers then turned around and engaged in these enforcement activities.”Ĭolumbus Police and the city of Columbus declined to comment on pending litigation.

“These officers were essentially using their positions of authority to dictate to business owners who they can hire and who they can associate with,” Keyes said. Several former Kahoots dancers sued Rosser and Lancaster for unjustly arresting them, saying they were targeted as retaliation for the club firing a police informant. Rosser and Lancaster were part of the Vice Unit team that arrested porn star Stormy Daniels at a different strip club in 2018. “In this particular case, their enforcement activity, which they knew was not proper, had the effect of basically driving this company out of business and forcing them to close down,” Keyes said. The owners sold the building in Northwest Columbus to apartment developer Preferred Living last June.Ĭooper Elliot attorney Bart Keyes, who represents the former club owners, says that officers Steven Rosser and Whitney Lancaster are the reason Kahoots went out of business. Icon Entertainment Group owned the club operations, while 4522 Kenny Road, LLC owned the land on which Kahoots sat. Owners of the now-shuttered Kahoots strip club have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Columbus and two former Vice Unit officers.

Vice city strip club