MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Call it “Strippergate” with a twist, a scam and a fall.
Four Mountlake Terrace men decided to extend a bout of heavy drinking early Saturday by ordering up erotic dancers they found advertised on the Internet, Mountlake Terrace police Sgt. Doug Hansen said.
The men, ages 22 to 46, or “old enough to know better,” as Hansen said, found an advertisement on Craigslist for strippers.
They pooled their cash — $440 — and found some women who looked appealing to them, Hansen said.
Around 5:45 a.m., three dancers arrived at the home of one of the men in the 23100 block of 51st Avenue W., Hansen said.
The dancers didn’t live up to their online descriptions, the men later told police.
They were “not as advertised,” Hansen said. The women were overweight and weren’t as alluring as the photos posted online.
Police asked the men to rate the women on a scale of 1 to 10: Most of the men rated the women a “2,” although the drunkest among them said “4.”
When one of the women excused herself to slip into the bathroom, one of the men saw her instead begin stealing items from an unoccupied bedroom.
The women fled and the men gave chase. One of the men jumped on the fleeing car, but fell off and landed in the street, Hansen said.
That’s when police were called to investigate a reported hit-and-run.
The man was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was treated for scrapes and bruises. Police continue to look for the dancers. The men accuse the women of stealing valuables and making off with their $440.
The entire incident could have been avoided with a bit of common sense and restraint, Hansen said.
“It was all due to extreme intoxication,” he said.
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