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Police Officers Raid 'Cherry Pit' Swingers Club

DUNCANVILLE (CBS 11 News) ― The battle between a highly publicized swingers club and the City of Duncanville is escalating. This after armed police officers raided the "Cherry Pit" over the weekend.

On Saturday night police from Duncanville and Cedar Hill used a battering ram to force their way inside the Cherry Pit. With their weapons drawn, officers executed a search warrant looking for evidence of prostitution and money laundering.

Police were also looking for evidence that the Cherry Pit was operating as a sexually oriented business and sex club in a residential area.

"There was a big group of people… wearing solid black. One was wearing a mask. We waited for the homeowner to answer the door, and then they started busting it in," said the person, who wishes to remain anonymous. "They ran in the house carrying automatic weapons, pistols... everyone was basically terrified."

Police say they went in with guns drawn because no one answered the door. They seized at least $500 in cash, DVDs, CDs and Cherry Pit business cards. Police made no arrests and did not issue any citations.

According to the attorney for the owners of the Cherry Pit, the owners and some 55 people inside were terrified and thought they were being robbed.

One woman went to the hospital after being injured in the raid. Duncanville's city manager says officers never came in contact with the woman.

The city manger for Duncanville says its taken time to conduct the undercover investigation. "I know a lot of people think that we've not been doing anything on this but we've been wrapping up our enforcement," says Kent Cagle. "We've told them they were in violation. We've written them tickets. And now we've taken it another step and it's just taken some time to do all this properly."

Last November the city went after the Cherry Pit in an effort to shut them down. The City of Duncanville recently strengthened its ordinance to designate any house or club that accepts donations for sexual activities as a sex club.

In January the City of Duncanville countersued the host of the 'Cherry Pit' alleging that the club posed a risk to public health by not having "any measures or policy in place to safeguard against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases." The suit also alleged that the club harms the city's image and lowers property values.

The owners of the Cherry Pit say donations are never solicited and that they are strictly voluntary.

Attorneys for the owners of the Cherry Pit say they are studying the search warrant to see if it was legal.

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