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ST. PETERSBURG TIMES ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA The night started with a complaint about a giant penis statue.
Before it was over, police had pinned the owner of the art gallery to the ground
and taken him to jail.
"Oh, my God," said gallery owner Bill Schramm, his glasses falling off in the
scuffle. "This is the city's response to a penis. That's fabulous."
Officers arrested Schramm and another man after a raid Friday night on the
Erotic Lounge in the Grand Central District of St. Petersburg. It wasn't the
statue that they were arrested for.
Instead, investigators said they saw a nude man in the gallery, a violation of a
city ordinance that prohibits places that serve alcohol from allowing the public
display of genitals.
The gallery's show on Friday included a cypress penis statue larger than a
person in front of the gallery. Schramm said he installed it there about 5 p.m.
Sometime during the evening, police received a complaint about the statue. A St.
Petersburg police officer stopped by, told Schramm it was pornographic and told
him to take it inside. He refused, saying it was art.
Later that evening, the show was still going on when police converged on the
shop. As Schramm was talking to a St. Petersburg Times reporter about the
statue, Sgt. Joe Collins dashed inside. Schramm put his hand up to stop him and
tried to hold the door closed, police said.
In an instant, officers tackled Schramm, forcing him to the ground and cuffing
his hands behind his back.
Officers sat him on a chair under the gallery's overhang while they searched the
shop and detained the customers, telling them there was a liquor violation and
asking to see identification.
Schramm, 46, was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and violating
the city ordinance.
Inside, police found a nude man, Joshua M. Culotta, suspended from the ceiling
in an aerial harness that Schramm earlier called a "chandelier."
"He was in plain view," said Collins, the investigating sergeant.
Officers said they arrested Culotta, 26, for violating the city ordinance. The
man, who is deaf, seemed confused and told a reporter, "I was just modeling." As
officers handcuffed him, he started to cry.
"He'll be okay. Misdemeanor charge," an officer told one of the man's friends.
The walls of the gallery were covered in erotic images. One painting depicted
Superman in underwear with an erect penis.
Attached to a bathroom door of cloth were signs reading: "Human petting zoo,"
"Tipping allowed & encouraged," and "Dare to explore." Police said they found a
man in his underwear inside the bathroom but nothing illegal.
Collins said the police began an investigation Friday night after hearing that
the gallery was displaying genitals while serving alcohol. He would not specify
how they knew, saying he wouldn't reveal an investigative tactic.
But because the business has a liquor license, police have a right of entry and
don't need probable cause to go inside, Collins said.
"It's art," said Craig Christopher, 42, who said he had barely sipped his beer
when police entered. "So what's the problem with that?"
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