YOUNGSTOWN Undercover police sting raids Bada Bing nightspot

By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Exotic dancers at the Bada Bing on Market Street, including a Boardman substitute teacher, entertained on the wrong laps -- vice cops working an undercover sting.
A raid at the Uptown restaurant just before 1 a.m. today resulted in the arrests of owner Bruce W. Paulette of Austintown, manager Michael N. Santangelo of Boardman and six female dancers.
On June 5, Paulette, who made an unsuccessful bid last year for Mahoning County commissioner, de-scribed the Bada Bing at Colonial House II at 2619 Market St. as a new fine-dining restaurant. He said it would feature adult entertainment such as comedians and dancers, but not nude dancing.
Charges: Paulette, 49, of Norquest Boulevard, and Santangelo, 29, of Helena Avenue, face charges of operating a burlesque theater within 500 feet of a church, promoting prostitution and permitting public indecency. New Beginning Church is next door.
When placing the dancers under arrest, officers confiscated money found jammed into the women's' garters -- $273, $221, $162, $110 and $72.
Police reports include aliases for five of the six women: "Jordan," "April," "Harley," "Paige" and "Baby."
Paulette's alias is "Soprano," a possible reference to the popular HBO television series "The Sopranos," which features a topless bar called the Bada Bing.
A police report shows that Heather Wilcox, 25, known as "April," of Maple Avenue in Boardman, is employed as a teacher in Boardman.
Wilcox is a substitue teacher in Boardman, where she also has a permanent position as a tutor, mostly at Glenwood Middle School, school officials said. She holds a teaching certificate for grades one to eight, they added.
She faces charges of prostitution, public indecency and improper conduct in a burlesque theater, as do Kellie Csernik, known as "Harley," 28, of Clifton Drive, Boardman, and Nicole Hedland, known as "Jordan," 20, of Rhoda Avenue, Youngstown.
Hope Rager, 28, and Faith Rager, 23, both of Loveland Road, Youngstown, face charges of improper conduct in a burlesque theater. Faith Rager has a drug-abuse marijuana charge. No charges were filed against the sixth dancer after a review by the city prosecutor this morning.
After being booked at the county jail overnight, the men and women were expected to be arraigned today in municipal court.
Lewd acts: The sting used two undercover officers and a cooperating witness, all of whom had been given buy money. They showed identification at the door and paid $5 admission to a doorman.
Reports show they sat at tables near an elevated stage and watched as the dancers stripped to G-strings and bras. Before long, Hedland approached one of the officers and offered a private lap dance upstairs in the V.I.P. room.
Police said the woman simulated sex while straddling the officer's lap and pulled her G-string down, and when finished, she asked for $20 and stuck it in her garter.
Police say the same scenario took place when Wilcox and Csernik took undercover cops to the V.I.P. room.
meade@vindy.com