Wild moment stripper ‘possessed by a demon’ stabs DJ multiple times at ‘vegan club’
An Oregon DJ was stabbed in the back by a stripper at the nightclub where he worked, shocking CCTV footage has shown.
Duncan Allen was standing next to his mixing desks as he prepared to spin some tunes at the Casa Diablo Vegan Strip Club in Portland – where he worked for more than a decade – when the frenzied attack happened.
Right behind him was Peyton Lathan, 29, an erotic dancer at the club who has also worked at the venue for more than 10 years.
Lathan, who was later described as being ‘possessed by a demon’ during the frenzied attack, appeared to be contemplating her next move when she suddenly launched an unprovoked attack on the unsuspecting DJ.
Allen seemed completely surprised by Lathan, who made several blows with a knife and reportedly stabbed him in the back.
Lathan stared at him for a few seconds after the wild outburst. Allen tried to run away from the danger and walked to the bar.
“I was on my computer preparing some songs and the next thing I knew, I felt like a 500-pound man was hitting me in the back as hard as humanly possible,” Allen told KPTV.
Duncan Allen could be seen standing next to his mixing consoles as he prepared to spin some tunes at the Casa Diablo Vegan Strip Club, where he has worked for over a decade
Right behind him, but clearly captured on surveillance footage, was Peyton Lathan, 29, an erotic dancer at the club who has also worked there for more than a decade.
Lathan could be seen making several blows with a knife, reportedly stabbing him in the back
‘So I turned around, expecting there to be a big guy about to fight me, and it was her [the erotic dancer] and she stood there with a knife in her hand.
‘I didn’t know at the time that I had been stabbed. Then I took a deep breath and realized my left lung had collapsed,” he said.
Fortunately, his injuries were not life-threatening and the DJ has said he is grateful it did not get worse.
‘She could have broken my ribs. She could have stabbed me in the kidney. She could have stabbed me in the neck. She could have stabbed me in the spine,” Allen said.
“To be honest with you, I think she should get the highest charge because the fact is this was premeditated.”
Police arrested Lathan on two charges of assault, as well as a charge of unlawful possession of a weapon.
She was found hiding in bushes along the road while police helped escort Allen’s ambulance to the hospital.
During her arrest, Lathan told police she was “pleading insanity,” adding, “that man is a drug dealer.”
DJ Duncan Allen has used his moment in the spotlight to thank the nightclub staff who helped save his life, along with the paramedics who responded to the scene
The club’s owner, Johnny Diablo Zukle, described the stripper as “possessed by a demon” at the time of the attack.
Allen, who denies such claims, said he only wishes someone who witnessed Lathan’s troubling behavior had spoken out sooner.
“I would like to see behavior taken more seriously,” he said, adding that if someone had spoken up about Lathan’s behavior beforehand, she might never have had the opportunity to attack him.
The club’s owner, Johnny Diablo Zukle, described the stripper as “possessed by a demon” at the time of the attack.
“She was always a little strange, but she never showed any signs of violent tendencies,” Zukle said.
“She was definitely having a mental health crisis. I think she was planning to kill someone, and it happened to be Duncan, and when I think about it, when she was in the locker room for about ten minutes, it looked like she was possessed by a demon.”
The DJ, meanwhile, used his moment in the spotlight to thank the nightclub workers who helped save his life.
Currently, he is unsure if he will return to the strip club.
“I have to leave the hospital,” Allen argued The Oregonian. “My feet have to touch the grass and I have to stare at the sky for about 30 minutes and just close my eyes and hold my dog and just be kind of grateful to be alive.”
A GoFundMe was set up to help Allen pay his medical bills.
Paramedics told him he was just minutes away from drowning in his own blood slowly filling his lungs.
Lathan is expected to be arraigned on her charges Tuesday morning.
Casa Diablo is one of the better known strip clubs in a city that has many of them. It opened in 2008 and gained attention by touting itself as the world’s first vegan strip club
Casa Diablo is one of the better known strip clubs in a city that has many of them.
It opened in 2008 and gained attention by touting itself as the world’s first vegan strip club.
It made national news in 2013 after the revelation that New Jersey U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker exchanged mildly flirtatious Twitter messages with a stripper from Casa Diablo. Booker won his election.
In 2015, it gained national attention for its vegan menu, but was accused of withholding more than just meat.
Two former Casa Diablo dancers filed a federal lawsuit, claiming they were not paid the minimum wage and were subjected to unwanted touching by customers and bouncers.