Strip Club Patron Battered With Cash Stack

FEBRUARY 29--A strip club patron was walloped in the face with a “small stack" of cash by a female worker who explained to arresting officers that, “This is a place where money is thrown everywhere.”

Police were summoned late Tuesday night to Body Talk, a topless club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, to investigate an alleged battery on a male customer.

The victim, John McKelvey, told cops that he was “talking to several employees of the establishment about his career” and acknowledged that the women “were upset he had not provided them any tips.” The 24-year-old McKelvey--apparently ignorant of strip joint etiquette--said that he “did not see any signs stating it was mandatory to tip.”

“The employees were upset that the victim had not thrown money at them, which was a common practice at the establishment,” according to an arrest affidavit.

A friend of McKelvey's told police that he was drunk and had been “talking about having a lot of money and not wanting to provide a tip.”

Which apparently led to a 9 PM confrontation with Victoria Jones, 28.

Seen above, Jones told sheriff’s deputies that McKelvey “was drunk and being rude” and had been “following employees from table to table verbally insulting them.”

Jones, cops say, said she “picked up a small stack of money and threw it towards the victim,” who was struck in the face with the legal tender. She claimed the cash was tossed in a “non-aggressive manner,” adding that, “This is a place where money is thrown everywhere.”

Court records do not indicate in what capacity Jones works at Body Talk (or how many singles were involved in the alleged crime).

McKelvey’s friend told investigators that he “observed Jones take money and slap the victim with it.” The club’s surveillance cameras recorded Jones and McKelvey exchanging words before Jones hit the man with the cash and followed up with an “open hand strike.”

Police arrested Jones for battery, a misdemeanor. She was released early yesterday from the county jail after posting $500 bond and is scheduled for a March 15 arraignment. (2 pages)