UPDATE:
Dallas Voice has been provided with a copy of the search warrant that lead to the raid Friday night, April 17, at Israel Luna’s Spayse Studios. The three-page document was printed with the date April 13 but signed at 7:21 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, by Judge Jeffrey Rosenfield, “sitting by assignment.”
(According to the website of appellate lawyer Chad Ruback, “A judge sitting by assignment is a temporary, authorized visiting judge — often retired or from a different court — presiding over cases outside their regular jurisdiction to handle backlogs, vacancies, or conflicts of interest. Known as ‘visiting judges,’ they possess full judicial authority to hear cases, ensuring court efficiency.”)
The warrant instructs officers to “search for and seize” evidence that “a particular person committed the offense of …aggravated promotion of prostitution” which is a first degree felony, public lewdness which is a Class A misdemeanor, and violation of legal hours of operation for a sexually oriented business.”
Also included in the warrant’s list of items to search for and seize were “Books, records, receipts, notes, ledgers and other papers relating to the transportation, managing and operation of a prostitution enterprise,” as well as “illegal narcotics, cellular telephones and other portable communication devices, firearms and ammunitions, employee records” and a 2000 Dodge cargo van.
Other documents provided to Dallas Voice include a copy of Luna’s certificate of occupancy for “commercial amusement (inside),” which is, according to Dallas City Code, one of the zoning classifications for sexually-oriented businesses.
ORIGINAL POST:
According to reports from numerous sources, Dallas police officers, including officers from a S.W.A.T. unit, have raided Israel Luna’s Spayse Studios, located at 2526 Manana Drive, Ste. 101 in Dallas.
Some sources are saying it was an “SOB” — or “sexually-oriented business” — raid, but there has been no confirmation of that. Other sources tell us that Spayse Studios has a certificate of occupancy that covers SOB activities, and that the event was taking place during hours when such activities are allowed.
Video taken of the building and the parking lot provided to Dallas Voice do confirm that the raid happened.
We have also located records showing that Luna and Marc Tuton, aka Kris Koh, have been booked into the Dallas County Jail. Jail records show that Tuton was booked in at 8:20 p.m. tonight (Friday, April 17), and Luna was booked in at 9:15 p.m. Jail records include no information on what, if any, charges have been filed against the two men, and no bond amounts are listed.
A source who was at the venue when the raid happens said that police initially detained more than 50 people but released them after about an hour.
Dallas Voice has contacted the public information office of the Dallas Police Department but, as yet, we’ve received no response. We will update this post when DPD responds. We have also reached out to Luna himself, but — given the circumstances and his apparent incarceration — we don’t expect an answer any time soon.
— Tammye Nash