WMD Used By Waldo, Florida Terrorists!!

[Ralph]

Gainesville.com

Back Article published May 29, 2006
May 29, 2006

Device targets Waldo sex shop

By TIFFANY PAKKALA

Sun staff writer
Protests, prayers and town meetings couldn't keep Jerry Sullivan's sexually-oriented business out of Waldo, and the store owner said a device investigators are calling a "weapon of mass destruction" won't either.

But that's exactly the route someone turned to Saturday night when they rigged up a rudimentary device to spew a hazardous substance through a hose into the Cafe Risque Adult Super Center.

Neighbors noticed a liquid leaking through a door of the business at 17301 NE U.S. 301 and called the Alachua County Sheriff's Office about 6:45 a.m. Sunday. Within hours, the adult bookstore - which will sell magazines, videos and sex toys - was overtaken with hazardous materials teams in full gear, firefighters, police and the Department of Environmental Protection.

The source of the leak was a water hose connected to two gallon-sized jugs of an unknown substance atop the business' air conditioner. Preliminary tests indicate the substance was corrosive in nature.

The hose fed water into the jugs and then pushed the mixed substance out another hose that led into the building.

It will take time to find out what the substance was, but its pH level was a concern to the hazmat teams, said ACSO spokesman Sgt. Keith Faulk.

"Hopefully it won't turn out to be deadly, but this is a form of domestic terrorism here in Alachua County," he said, noting even hoax WMDs are considered terroristic under the law.

Hooking up such a device is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Sullivan, who plans to open the business as scheduled in the next couple months, said the liquid did minor damage in a back room and leaked out without reaching the store.

"I've never had anything like this happen," said Sullivan, who owns six sex-oriented businesses near major highways in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. "I've had my life threatened, I've been yelled at and snarled and cussed at, but never anything like this."

ACSO's Faulk said there are some strong leads in the investigation, but no official suspects yet. But Sullivan said he knows who did it after viewing the tapes of several 24-hour surveillance cameras he keeps outside the shop, "and we're gonna go after him with everything we've got."

He said investigators are just taking time to build their case before arresting the suspect.

As the investigation continues, crews are working to decontaminate the business just outside Waldo's city limits, ripping out the carpet and removing any remnants of the substance.

Sullivan called the incident "a stupid act of terrorism" and said he's most angry because, if the substance proves life-threatening, it could have killed his brother-in-law, who's the lead construction worker on the site.

Still, he said, "Waldo's a fine place. I'm not having second thoughts (about the business)."

The adult bookstore, set to open in the building that once housed Bobby's Hideaway bar, has attracted a lot of attention from Waldo residents in the months Sullivan's worked to get it approved. Among town meetings and protests, about 150 people turned out in April to picket the store with a sign reading, "Americans for Morality." At the same time, five bikini-clad women danced in a truck with a Cafe Risque logo on the side nearby.

In a community meeting that followed, many of the picketers said they skipped what is usually church night to show up to the meeting and pray for salvation for their community. After representatives for Sullivan presented plans for the building, the picketers prayed aloud, asking God to stand in the way of the business opening near their small town.

Sullivan said he has a few more steps and some paperwork to complete before the business opens, but construction is continuing as planned and a sign identifying the shop as "Cafe Risque" is already in place.

Tiffany Pakkala can be reached at 338-3111 or pakkalt@ gvillesun.com

[Teresa B]

I always suspected Waldo would one day be on the map.

Teresa

[Corlyss_D]

How many stories about attacks on businesses actually include their specific street address? Cafe Risque is getting priceless publicity.

[RebLem]

How many stories about attacks on businesses actually include their specific street address? Cafe Risque is getting priceless publicity.

Maybe the owner wanted it that way. This is also a priceless disincentive to terrorist attacks on dirty bookstores.

[Ralph]

How many stories about attacks on businesses actually include their specific street address? Cafe Risque is getting priceless publicity.

Maybe the owner wanted it that way. This is also a priceless disincentive to terrorist attacks on dirty bookstores.

*****

What are "dirty bookstores?"

[Corlyss_D]

I used to carry a dirty book with me on fire drills. It was a 1870s copy of Tacitus and was very dusty and crumbly . . .

[RebLem]

How many stories about attacks on businesses actually include their specific street address? Cafe Risque is getting priceless publicity.

Maybe the owner wanted it that way. This is also a priceless disincentive to terrorist attacks on dirty bookstores.

*****

What are "dirty bookstores?"

A good working definition is any "bookstore" you wouldn't take a daughter to.

[Ralph]

How many stories about attacks on businesses actually include their specific street address? Cafe Risque is getting priceless publicity.

Maybe the owner wanted it that way. This is also a priceless disincentive to terrorist attacks on dirty bookstores.

*****

What are "dirty bookstores?"

A good working definition is any "bookstore" you wouldn't take a daughter to.

*****

But a son would be okay for a visit?

[mourningstar]

oh my gosh. you american are such modest people. Here in the Netherlands. We have ALL books at the same place. from dirty books to baby books. but then again. We legalize drugs and Prostituion.