Rainbow Cabaret March 26-27

[ejaculaTe]

14 hours ago, ellentonboy said:

What are the chances that the same location would burn three times?  No one ever held accountable.  I heard the place was nice, it burned before I ever had a chance to go.

It's a shame in my opinion, I can't imagine that law enforcement didn't pursue an investigation into the matter.  If they did, I never heard if anyone was arrested.  I doubt the insured was paid on the claims.    Curious if this was someone who did not want that kind of establishment in their location, or the owner trying to get an early payout.

 

The first two fires occurred within a week. Tampa FD had a suspect, but that seems to be as far it went. [think before following links] https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-tampa/tampa-fire-rescue-identify-suspect-in-two-ybor-city-arsons. The third fire was several months later, and the suspect was arrested. [think before following links] https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-tampa/fire-ruled-arson-at-closed-business-in-ybor-city. There were assorted rumors that the business had had financial difficulties. Draw your own conclusions.

[ellentonboy]

9 hours ago, ejaculaTe said:

The first two fires occurred within a week. Tampa FD had a suspect, but that seems to be as far it went. [think before following links] [think before following links] https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-tampa/tampa-fire-rescue-identify-suspect-in-two-ybor-city-arsons. The third fire was several months later, and the suspect was arrested. [think before following links] [think before following links] https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-tampa/fire-ruled-arson-at-closed-business-in-ybor-city. There were assorted rumors that the business had had financial difficulties. Draw your own conclusions.

What I had initially heard, and this was several years back, was that is was believed the owner himself was behind the fires.  Not that he personally set them, but that he paid someone to do it.  I also heard (again, not confirmed) that the owner was someone who was either a judge, commissioner or local politician, and that owning this kind of establishment was not a "good luck" and he wanted to end his association with it.   You mentioned there was an arrest for the third fire, I just wonder if we'll ever know the truth.  I just could kick myself for never going, I had heard it was far better than Rainbow, at least as far as the accommodations.  Now the type of guys there, I am not so sure.

However I would have liked to go at least once and decide for myself.  At the time it was open it was close to where I was living and it would have been convenient.  I guess I will never know.

[ellentonboy]

11 hours ago, onlyraw said:

Ok - I want the back story here … a gay bath house was a shelter during a hurricane???

and people downloading porn? And getting caught… and arrested? (How many of the police officers were hit on buy guys who just thought they were there to act out weird fetishes  “oh officer, I’ve been a bad boy - can you handcuff me too?”   Or “can I play with your nightstick officer?”)
 

this would make a wonderfully sleazy (and either tragic or hysterically funny) Netflix movie…..

Well in 2004 the Tampa area had three hurricanes or tropical storms that passed over the area.  Many guys went to the Rainbow because it was open, at least initially.  At some point in the evening, when the place was sold out, everyone was told they had to evacuate.   I had initially planned to go to the Parliament House in Orlando, but the storm tracked across the state and I wasn't about to drive down I-4 in that kind of weather, so I sheltered at home.   I did not have power for two days afterwards but at least I was in my own place.

Now regarding the arrest.  It was not local, but Federal authorities that came in.  The individual, who I had played with both before and after that arrest, was basically living out of a room there, and selling "enhancements".  He would sit with his laptop and just continue to download everything that bathhouse was offering to show it's patrons.  I don't know if the Feds were tipped off, but they knew the I.P. address and they knew exactly who they were looking for.  I was not there the night he was arrested, but the Feds came in and took him out.  They paid no attention to what else was going on at the establishment.  They simply took him away.

I know he spent some time in Federal prison, and I hooked up with him a second time after his arrest.  I didn't want to bring down the mood, and this was at a friend's house, so there were three of us.  I really didn't want to ask about the specifics of his arrest, but he did confirm it was him.   So what did he do while we were playing?  Download every bit of porn the third guy had at his house, which was a vast amount.  I later called him out about it and told him he was rude.    He told me by sending him that message I had screwed up some downloading that he was doing at the time - lol.  I guess some people never learn.

For those who were going to the Rainbow from say 2004 to 2009, most know or would recognize this individual.  After his arrest, when I hooked up with him, I was shocked at how large he had become.  But he was still downloading porn, from any source he could find.