Tattooist Arrested For Invasion Of Privacy

June 26th, 2009 · No Comments

Publicity Worries Tattoo Shop Owner
By Edward Lewis
Published : June 25, 2009

EDWARDSVILLE, PA – Dragons Den owner Shannon Cragle has operated a colorful tattoo and piercing business for 16 years in the Wyoming Valley, with the last eight years on Main Street in Edwardsville.

Dragon’s Den tattoo shop owner Shannon Cragle fired his employee after learning Wednesday he was arrested.

Ten to 15 customers walk through his door every day, Cragle said.

He blames the arrest of his tattoo artist, Shawn Besnoska, as why he had three cancellations on Wednesday.

“As soon as I opened up this morning, I had customers calling to cancel their appointments,” Cragle said. “There were messages on my machine from customers canceling. Customers are asking for their money back.”

Besnoska, 34, of Moosic, was charged by Edwardsville police Monday night with invading the privacy of a woman he had pierced.

Police allege Besnoska pierced the woman’s genital at Cragle’s studio on June 4 and e-mailed a picture of the piercing to Donald Aregood Jr., according to arrest records.

Besnoska was charged with two counts of invasion of privacy and a single count of harassment. He was released on $5,000 bail awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled on July 15 in Central Court.

Cragle denied that Besnoska pierced the girl in his studio. He said Besnoska was hired as a tattoo artist and wasn’t permitted to pierce customers.

“He only tattooed in my shop,” Cragle said. “If he did pierce this woman, it wasn’t in my shop.”

Besnoska couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Cragle said he terminated Besnoska’s employment on Wednesday after learning about the allegations.

A tattoo artist himself, Cragle said he hopes the incident doesn’t have a long-term impact on his business.

“Having a second artist was good for business,” Cragle said. “I have an established clientele that keep coming back, but you still get the people looking in the phone book for tattoo studios.”

Source : Times Leader