The El Paso County Attorney’s Office reached a settlement with West Central “after-hours club” Lava Lounge to shut down after the club was accused of allowing criminal activity and operating as an unlicensed sexually oriented business, authorities said.
Judge Melissa A. Baeza of County Court at Law No. 3 signed the agreement on Thursday, Dec. 4, between the El Paso County Attorney’s Office and the owners and operators of Lava Lounge to permanently close the establishment, County Attorney Christina Sanchez announced in a news release.
“This agreement permanently terminates an operation that had become a persistent source of violence and illegal activity in our community,” Sanchez said in a statement. “When establishments repeatedly endanger the public and violate state laws, my office will use every tool available, including civil abatement statutes, to protect El Paso residents.”
The club is located at 1615 Montana Ave., Suite 117, in the West Central El Paso area.
Robert Perez, who is listed as the attorney for Lava Lounge, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Club alleged site of criminal activity
Law enforcement and emergency services responded to the club 18 times between July 1, 2024, and Sept. 5, 2025, on reports of violence and other criminal activity, Sanchez said.
The incidents included aggravated robbery at knifepoint, a shooting that left 13 shell casings in the parking lot, twoarrests for unlawful possession of weapons, and various assaults, fights, and disturbances involving intoxicated patrons, she added.
Other crimes listed in court documents include calls for service for “two assaults, one aggravated robbery, one call for a fight, one call for a fight involving a weapon, four calls labeled as drunk disturbance, one criminal mischief, one theft, one motor vehicle accident, one officer on view stop, one unlawful carrying of a weapon, one discharge firearm in certain municipalities.”
The club operated as a bring-your-own-beverage after-hours club while simultaneously violating state law by selling alcohol during prohibited hours and operating as an unregistered sexually oriented business, Sanchez said. The club also advertised selling hookah, but didn’t have a license to sell tobacco products with the Texas Comptroller’s Office, court documents state.
Lava Lounge was also accused of operating as a strip club, court documents state.
“The bar is advertised and promoted on social media as an after-hours club and includes language such as, ‘Amateur Night’ with a photo of a woman with cash around her,” a lawsuit filed by the El Paso County Attorney’s Office states. “The advertisements also include language such as, ‘Stripper Bowl.’ In addition, a patron on social media promoted the business in a photo by showing a female dancer on a metal pole.”
The investigation into the club was conducted by the El Paso County Attorney’s Office Nuisance Abatement Team, El Paso Police Department’s Gang Unit, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Texas Comptroller’s Office Enforcement Division, and Texas Department of Public Safety.
Lava Lounge, El Paso County reach settlement
The El Paso County Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit on Oct. 24 against the club’s owners and operators seeking the permanent closure of the club after the El Paso County Attorney’s Office Nuisance Abatement Team found “numerous documented incidents of alleged criminal activity at the location,” Sanchez said.
The club was temporarily closed by a temporary restraining order, the same day the lawsuit was pending in court.
The club owner and operators reached an agreement to permanently close as part of a settlement that was signed by Judge Baeza on Thursday, Dec. 4.
They also agreed to pay $12,000 in civil penalties, Sanchez said.
The El Paso County Attorney’s Office urges community members to report suspected nuisance properties by calling 915-273-3238 or at epcounty.com/ca.