Police raid Ada tattoo studio

[Rat-tat-tat]

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Ada law enforcement raided Tiger Moon Tattoo Studio on North Mississippi Thursday night, confiscating several tattoo related items just one week after the state House of Representatives voted to legalize the profession.

According to Katherine Carder, apprentice of the studio, six officers served a warrant and gathered up items necessary to the business.

"In essence, they came in with a search warrant for tattoo paraphernalia," she said. "Basically what they wanted to do is come in and search and seize. They came in and got the equipment they wanted and shut us down for the weekend."

Asked about the incident, Mark Bratcher, Ada public information officer, said the police action was not a raid. He said Ada police had received citizen complaints about a tattoo parlor operating in Ada.

"On Thursday police were responding to citizen complaints about a tattoo parlor located in Ada," Bratcher said.

"Detectives consulted with the District Attorney and learned it is still illegal to operate a tattoo parlor in Oklahoma. Police issued a citation to the operator on duty and while there, made an arrest for public intoxication and found someone with an outstanding warrant. Marijuana was also discovered on the premises but no arrest was made because it became impossible to determine who it belonged to," he said.

Some of the equipment seized by police were approximately 25 skin pigments, a box of needles, a box of gloves and business cards and flyers.

Although Oklahoma remains the only state in the nation that still prohibits tattooing, the state is taking steps to legalize it. On April 17, the State House of Representatives voted to legalize the practice in a 70 to 28 vote. The bill is now waiting approval from Senate.

"What it comes down to, the legalities, is that the law stated that it's illegal to put an indelible mark in the skin," she said. "Indelible, by legal definition means ‘forever and unchanging.’ A tattoo by definition is not indelible, as it does change as soon as it hits the skin and it is removable. What we want to impress is, that we're running a legal enterprise."

Studio owner Tigger Liddel questioned the reasoning behind temporarily shutting down his business.

"I'm amazed that someone felt the need to come and harass me," he said. "Every time they do this, after we find a way to do it legally and professionally, and they want to harass us, it keeps sending people back into the garages and back rooms to get work done. The whole thing doesn't make sense. "

Carder echoed much of the same sentiment. "The cops clearly stated they said they knew it had been open and they didn't have a problem with it, and they didn't come until they knew they had to," she said. "They even told people who walked in the door during the process of the search that the bill was going to be passed and to just come back the next week."

After being in operation since late February, artist Michael McCartney gave an example of the type of customers who patronize the establishment. "We had a lady come in, about 70 years old, the first time she's ever come into a tattoo shop in her life, and she said it was one of the best experiences she's ever had, coming into that shop.

"She sat in there, she watched us do everything, she was impressed that we showed her — nobody has to ask," Carder said. "If you get a tattoo in our studio, we show you that everything is brand new, we're not going to make you wonder. We're going to show you that we open a brand new package."

"We don't do the sterilization process, because everything is brand new," McCartney said. "The tools are only used once and then destroyed."

Carder said after delivering the service the studio offers care and information to the customer. "We have specific instructions we send home, have after-care instructions and we have a toll-free phone number if there's any problems or questions," she said. "We use all brand-new sterile antibiotics, creams, ointment for each customer. We've all gone through blood-pathogens training. We've all been trained on how it's spread and prevented."

Although police have temporarily confiscated the studio equipment, both Liddell and Carder said the business would make its return in the upcoming week.

"It was unnecessary when they knew the shop had been here and do this just days before the bill is to be passed," Carder said. "It's also unnecessary in the effect that the officers said that they knew the place was open and they clearly stated that they had better things to be doing, more important things to be following up on. They said that they were court-ordered to come down to the studio. It was uncomfortable all the way around."