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Lockeford woman arrested for allegedly driving toward employees at bikini bar
The weekend arrest of a woman accused of driving toward employees at a Lockeford bikini bar was the latest incident in her ongoing battle against the business.
Before On the Beach Bikini Bar opened at 18960 N. Highway 88, Barbara Thornton started a petition drive against it. Since its April opening, owners say she has called authorities repeatedly, and has also harassed them.
Things got more heated Friday night and Thornton, 62, was ultimately booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon — her car — resulting in $500,000 bail. However, prosecutors only plan to file a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Until Friday, On The Beach Bikini Bar had seen no major problems, said owner Tim Kruppe.
Since the April 17 soft opening, deputies have been to the business 32 times, said Sheriff's spokesman Les Garcia. Of those incidents, six were area checks by deputies and one was a call of keys being locked in a vehicle. The remaining 25 calls were disturbances, such as loud music.
Garcia didn't have a breakdown of who had called deputies in those 25 calls, but bar employees said Thornton has called a number of times. She has also made expletive-filled calls to the business itself about three or four times a day, said manager Anthony Yates.
Neighbors said they wouldn't put it past Thornton to speak her mind, though they didn't think she'd go so far as to intentionally hurt people.
Kruppe and Yates were both at the bar Friday night when Thornton drove into the back parking lot at 9:39 p.m., according to the time stamp on their surveillance videos. Her red Chevrolet Nova is seen driving slowly past vehicles parked in the lot.
She was apparently taking down license plate numbers, according to both a friend and bar employees.
At 9:42 p.m., another camera showed Thornton backing into empty parking spaces behind the southwest end of the building. Three minutes passed, and then three men are seen approaching the car at 9:45 p.m.
Thornton briefly accelerated, and one man quickly moved out of the way.
Kruppe, one of the men visible in the video, said he tried to place her under citizen's arrest until Sheriff's deputies arrived. Thornton allegedly said, "Get the (expletive) away from me or I'll kill you all," Kruppe said.
He and the other men backed off and are not seen again on the video. At 10:09 p.m., 24 minutes later, Thornton suddenly turned and drove between two buildings, up onto a sidewalk and out of sight of the camera.
Tire marks were still visible Monday, showing where her car managed to miss concrete columns and a set of mailboxes while maneuvering through the small space. Deputies arrived at that time, bar employees said, and arrested Thornton.
Yates said he asked deputies not to tow her car since she is on a fixed income, and asked if a neighbor could take her dog rather than sending it to an animal shelter.
"This is not a comfortable situation because she's probably someone's grandmother," Yates said.
Thornton called at least two people from jail, saying half a dozen men had put a Dumpster in front of her car and then surrounded her, and that was why she accelerated. On the video surveillance a Dumpster is in the parking lot, several yards to the left of her car against the building, where it still sat Monday.
Jeanette Sherron, who has been friends with Thornton since she was 16, was one of the people Thornton called from jail. Thornton isn't in the best of health, she battles the painful disease fibromyalgia and doesn't sleep well, so any noise from the bar just makes things worse, Sherron said.
Thornton has one of several mobile homes that look over the back lot of the bar.
Pat Wiley's home is another one, and she was among a group of people who fought to keep the bar from opening. They signed petitions and talked to the Board of Supervisors and county Planning Commissioners. The bar was ultimately allowed to open.
Now that it's open, the music isn't an issue, and it's quieter than it was under previous ownership, Wiley said.
But the employees' back door is close to the mobile home park, and a couple of employees talk loudly. Wiley can hear the entire conversations — including talk of boyfriends and other topics — unless she closes her windows.
Wiley, who is active in her church and had a Bible sitting on her kitchen table Monday, disapproves of lap dancing. She also doesn't want to hear details of real-life soap operas outside her bedroom window.
She hasn't complained to the bar owners because she doesn't want to create problems.
Ultimately, Thornton is expected to be released after her court appearance today, and will likely return to her home that is yards away from the bar.
Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.
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jenn06 wrote on Jun 13, 2008 9:35 AM:
marie wrote on Jun 12, 2008 8:24 PM:
jenn06 wrote on Jun 12, 2008 9:57 AM:
marie wrote on Jun 12, 2008 5:50 AM:
Bob Loblaw wrote on Jun 11, 2008 3:30 PM:
aspchick wrote on Jun 10, 2008 11:34 PM:
Where do you get gas, food, clothes, isn't that rape? Or just a bend over? "
marie wrote on Jun 10, 2008 8:08 PM:
LodiReaderFromStockton wrote on Jun 10, 2008 4:06 PM:
OTH wrote on Jun 10, 2008 2:25 PM:
marie wrote on Jun 10, 2008 1:34 PM:
If you and any other decent person reading these blogs oppose the bikini bar, don't patronize the Lockeford INN restaurant or George's Lounge. George owns the whole complex and is the one who help promote and establish Tim in his new "sleeze" bar. It's all about the all mighty dollar.
Boycott, the whole place! "
jenn06 wrote on Jun 10, 2008 12:13 PM:
jenn06 wrote on Jun 10, 2008 12:10 PM:
LodiReaderFromStockton wrote on Jun 10, 2008 9:47 AM:
Scrutiny wrote on Jun 10, 2008 9:29 AM:
boonablis wrote on Jun 10, 2008 7:32 AM:
Futhermore-has anyone seen these chicks at this bikini bar?? One could easily mistake the dancers as raccoons, or any kind of animal that one would see on the side of the road.
Ahhh, Slumpbusters "
carlos wrote on Jun 10, 2008 6:50 AM:
GetUrHeadOut wrote on Jun 10, 2008 6:41 AM:
Thornton better be thanking her lucky stars these men were not armed and defending them selfs with deadly force.
"Misdemeanor charge of reckless driving, according to the District Attorney's Office". WHAT A JOKE!!! "
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