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Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
July 26, 2007
4:30 PM
City wins ruling, shuts down illegal tattoo business
Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications&Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-
1564, Catherine Toppel, Director of Code Enforcement, 235-9486, or Ann-Carol Nash,Assistant
City Attorney, 235-9241
An illegal tattoo parlor has been shut down and its unlicensed operators have been found
in contempt of court after a minor received two tattoos and a body piercing without
legally required parental authorization.
Cosmic Ink, 1930 S. Franklin St., was closed this morning by authorities who seized its
equipment and assets following a ruling in St. Joseph County Superior Court. The
operators—Timothy R. Campbell and Hayley M. Silva Campbell—received notice they
were violating a March 30, 2004, injunction that prohibited their unlicensed operation.
Judge William T. Means' ruling came about because of cooperative action among several
city departments—Administration and Finance, Code Enforcement, Legal and Police —
along with the St. Joseph County Health Department in response to a parent's report of
the illegal activity.
The action was precipitated by the parent's report in April to George Kendall, a public
services officer with the South Bend Police Department. The parent said her 17-year-old
daughter received tattoos on each of her forearms and a piercing on her lower lip from
Timothy Campbell. Campbell, the girl said, neither asked for identification nor sought a
parental waiver as required by law.
"We always appreciate and use the information provided by citizens," said Ann-Carol
Nash, assistant city attorney. "[In this case,] it was absolutely crucial. There is absolutely
no way we would have been able to make a case without them coming forward."
The investigation brought together authorities from the South Bend Police Department,
the city's licensing auditor, South Bend Code Enforcement, the city's Legal department
and Marc Nelson and Charles Przybylski of the county health department's
environmental division.
As soon as the investigation was complete, the city on June 27 filed a motion for
contempt with the St. Joseph County Superior Court. This morning's ruling came more
than three years after the City of South Bend first obtained a permanent injunction against
the Campbells from using the property or another location in the city to operate a tattoo
or body-piercing business without licensing.
Police, code-enforcement and health-department authorities this morning seized items
associated with the tattoo and body-piercing operations, including designs, needles, inks,
studs, hoops, rings and jewelry.
The Campbells had operated since 2002, but had never obtained a city license. They
repeatedly were informed of the licensing requirements of their business through warning
notices dating back to August 2003. Although they had applied for a health department
permit between 2002 and 2004, they had never sought any of the legally required city
licenses. The city's actions culminated in obtaining a restraining order in March 2004.
In addition to the illegal tattoo business, the property has ongoing code issues, including
three unlicensed pit bulls on the premises, said Catherine Toppel, director of code
enforcement.
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