Off-On Battle Is On Again: Lingerie Shop Stays Open : Courts: Brea vows to refile 288 criminal counts against owners of alleged ‘peep show’ business as agreed-upon deadline to shut it down passes.

After a controversial lingerie shop here did not shut its doors Wednesday, a city prosecutor said he plans to refile hundreds of criminal misdemeanor charges against the owners for operating an adult business without the proper permits.

City prosecutor Gregory Palmer said he will appear in Municipal Court in Fullerton this morning to ask for a trial date and to refile 288 misdemeanor counts against Hassan Halabi and Nabil Abouriche, the operators of Queen Lingerie, whose G-string-clad female models have sparked the wrath of residents who live near the Birch Street shop.

Palmer said the city does not have authority to shut the business down. He said the city is filing the charges, hoping to go to trial and eventually have a judge order the shop’s closure.

Brea officials, under pressure from angry residents of one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods, originally thought an out-of-court agreement struck in March spelled the end of business at the shop.

Under that agreement, Halabi and Abouriche said they would close by Wednesday in return for the city’s promise to dismiss all criminal charges against them, Palmer said.

But the shop stayed open past a 4 p.m. deadline, and Palmer said he will refile the charges.

The business was originally slapped with a misdemeanor criminal complaint Feb. 10, alleging its owners operated an adult modeling studio, a public dance hall and a place of public entertainment without the proper permits. The 288 misdemeanor counts average three for each day of business since Queen Lingerie opened Nov. 7, 1991, Palmer said.

Attorney Laurence A. Young, who represented Halabi and Abouriche at their February arraignment, said, “I think their (owners’) plan is to shut the shop down,” but they want more time to do so.

Halabi and Abouriche were not available for comment late Wednesday.

When Queen Lingerie first opened, the owners were granted operating permits without incident. But residents, alarmed when they saw a lot of men entering and leaving the shop, complained to the City Council that the shop was nothing more than a peep show that attracted unsavory people to the neighborhood.

Queen Lingerie offers a “free private show” with any $50 purchase. The shop is known for its fantasy theme rooms. For example, a Richard M. Nixon room features lingerie-clad models who perform atop a likeness of the former President’s desk.