‘Bambi’ hoaxer’s friend may lose business license

Thursday, July 31, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.

The girlfriend of a man who said his company arranged paintball "hunts" of naked women faces the revocation of her Las Vegas city business license amid allegations she operates an unlicensed escort service.

The Las Vegas City Council on Aug. 6 will consider a request by Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic to bring Lakana Campbell, 48, before the council in 60 days to show why her license should not be revoked, other city officials said Wednesday.

Jerbic, who has not yet filed his written complaint in support of the allegations about the unlicensed paintball business and "escort bureau," declined to release specific details of the charges Wednesday.

The escort service allegation came to light Wednesday afternoon at Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's weekly news conference. Goodman also was sketchy about the details, saying only that city investigators discovered during their investigation that the business was "a front for an escort service."

Because escort services in Las Vegas have a long history of being fronts for prostitution, they are closely monitored by Metro Police and other authorities.

Although the pending charges do not allege any violence, Goodman, in response to a reporter's question, said he is "not going to tolerate any violence toward women. ... We're not going to let people assault and batter women."

In the past, Goodman has said the city's investigation had turned up no evidence of violence against women, that the hunts were a hoax and that there was no proof in the video that women were even hit by speeding paintballs.

The revocation hearing, if approved by the seven-member council, also includes the charge that Campbell did not include on her license application the name of her boyfriend, Michael Burdick, the front man for the business, who has gained nationwide media coverage for the promotion.

Burdick has been cited for running his video-sales business without a license. He is to appear in Las Vegas Municipal Court on that charge on Aug. 28. If convicted, he faces a maximum $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

The city's investigation determined that Burdick allegedly lied to business license investigators, who went to the address on the license application -- a four-bedroom home in the Lone Mountain area, near the Las Vegas Beltway and Cheyenne Avenue Campbell's home -- a house owned by Campbell.

Burdick, who lives with Campbell, came forward at that time to say he ran the businesss, city officials said.

Attempts to reach Burdick and Campbell on Wednesday were not successful.

A statement on the "Hunting for Bambi" website says: "Hunting for Bambi is not an escort service, as the mayor claims. Hunting for Bambi uses willing participants who are all paid to be on the video. Oscar Goodman, an accomplished defense attorney, knows that assault and battery (two different crimes under Nevada Revised Statutes) require the 'victim' to prosecute and for a crime to take place, there must be intent. Neither of those elements are available to Mayor Goodman."

"Hunting for Bambi is not an escort service. We do not set up anyone with dates or promote any type of dating service. Yes, we own BambiDolls.com, but that domain was 'hijacked' from us," the website notes.

The person who allegedly "hijacked" that website, "will be served a cease and desist order," the statement added.

The couple runs a company called Real Men Outdoor Productions. The company produced "Hunting for Bambi," a video that depicts camouflage-clad men shooting nude women with paintballs.

The company is licensed only to sell hunting videos.

The company also operates a website to sell the video and related merchandise. Burdick claimed the hunts were real and available to anyone willing to pay a $10,000 hunting fee. The city maintains that such hunts were never conducted and that the video was staged with paid actors.

Burdick has admitted that the video was staged. He has maintained, however, that he would have conducted hunts but that credit card companies would not allow potential customers to pay for the ventures on credit and that no one was willing to pay $10,000 in cash for the hunts.

The publicity from news reports of the hunts generated a wave of protests from advocates for women's rights and reflected badly on Las Vegas, Goodman said. The uproar prompted the city investigation.

Jerbic said the pending city complaint could be filed with the city clerk's office as early as today or at least in time for the Aug. 6 City Council meeting.