Frank Raucci, a 59-year-old Takoma Park electronics technician, has been frequenting Good Guys for six to seven years. He knows the waitresses, and is a friend of manager Kathleen Lazorchack. He’s a regular. When he stopped into the club on the evening of Nov. 3, 2007, he sat down in front of stripper Gabriella‘s stage and ordered a beer, waiting to speak to Lazorchack. In front of him was another customer he’d never seen before. Gabriella waved to Raucci in between moves. He got up and walked up to the stage to greet her. The other customer turned and watched him watch Gabriella, he says.

Later, the customer removed his cell phone and took a photo of Gabriella. She came over to him and held out her hand for the phone, Raucci says. The man gave it to her. She waved her finger at him, as if to say, “don’t do that.” She put the phone by her purse and resumed dancing. He continued to offer her money as she danced. She ignored him.

When she left the stage, Raucci says, Gabriella gave the phone to a manager—-nit not Lazorchack. The three of them spoke briefly. The music was too loud to hear. Eventually, the man paid his bill and left. Raucci didn’t see Lazorchack escort him out, he says.

At the bachelor party near Raucci, a waitress was helping a Marine remove his over-shirt and put on a Good Guys tee. Raucci heard a commotion near the door. He saw two individuals grappling. He identified one as the man with the cell phone. In court, he points to the defendant—-Vasile Graure.  He had a small flame in his hand. That’s when the flame erupted into a “huge fireball,” he says.