Miami-Dade assistant state attorney Ari Pregen fired for flashing badge at strip club

So, what's the deal with lawyers getting stupid at strip clubs?

We learn today - thanks to Frank Alvarado at Miami New Times - that an assistant state attorney at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has been fired for getting really stupid at a Miami strip club.

Ari Pregen in happier
times.

Ari Pregen picked the wrong strip club to throw his weight around. On January 26, the Miami-Dade assistant state attorney gained free admission for himself and two pals into downtown Miami's Goldrush by flashing his work badge at the titty bar's executive manager Jeff Levy. A few hours later, Pregen again whipped out his law enforcement credentials so he wouldn't have to pay a 15 percent credit card surcharge on lap dances he purchased.
[...]
Pregen got belligerent with Goldrush's front door bouncers, demanding he and his crew be allowed into the club without paying the cover charge. Security called Levy, who came to the front door. He explained to Pregen that he only allowed military with a valid ID to enter the strip joint for free. "Mr. Pregen was more persistent and told me that he had not paid for admission fees for years," Levy recollected. "Mr. Pregen reached for his wallet and flashed his State Attorney's badge at me."

To avoid making a scene, Levy said he let the trio in without charging them "against my better judgement."

Around one in the morning, Pregen lost his cool when he used his credit card to pay for lap dances. He was annoyed that Goldrush -- like all strip clubs -- wanted to collect a 15 percent surcharge for swiping his plastic. Anyone familiar with titty bar etiquette understands that obtaining bands to make her dance inside the club usually comes with a Vig. That's why you stop at an ATM before you step through the front door.

Obviously, Pregen didn't get the memo. Levy alleges Pregen tried to intimidate the female employee who ran his credit card by stating "he is a state attorney and he dares her to charge him ... Mr. Pregen goes on to flash his badge again to the female employee." The assistant prosecutor also claimed it was illegal for the club to take his fingerprint because he was a state employee.

Read the entire story at Miami New Times by clicking here.

The Justice Building Blog first reported Pregen's firing last week but didn't name him. One of the blog's readers responded with this comment...

This is bs. Please do some investigation before posting such nonsense. I bet he didn't even "flash" it at all, but rather it accidentally fell out of his pocket as he was walking through the threshold of the establishment. My badge has a mind of its own whenever I get pulled over for speeding, when I purchase guns and ammo, and when I'm running late at the airport. Such clumsy things, those damn badges.

Pregen isn't the first Miami lawyer to do something stupid in a strip club.

In 1996 United States Attorney Kendall Coffey resigned his post in disgrace....something about a stripper, a strip club named Lipstik and a $900 bottle of champagne...paid for with a credit card.

And two years ago, Miami DUI attorney Mark Gold made the stupid list after allegedly racking up almost $19,000 in credit card charges at Goldrush...the same strip club where Pregen tried to throw his weight around.

Gold sued the club alleging that he was served so much alcohol that he became "temporarily unconscious, and further to the extent that he had a complete loss of judgment, rational thought, or the ability to enter into lawful contracts or agreements." Yeah...whatever.

So, here's a bit of advice for any of you Miami-Dade ASAs who still want to visit Goldrush or any of South Florida's other fine strip clubs...by all means, go right ahead. But leave the plastic in your wallet and pay with cash. And if you feel like you absolutely must flash your badge...don't.

Get yourself one of these instead. I had one when I was a kid and it worked like a charm.