Former Customers Tell Investigators That Unlicensed Chester County Tattoo Parlor Made Them Sick

More than 60 people have called the Chester County Sheriff’s Office and said they got tattoos or piercings at a business shut down earlier this week – and more than half of them say they got sick after going there.

Investigators say 41-year-old Robert Dover was running an illegal operation, giving hundreds of tattoos and piercings without a license. An undercover officer said the conditions inside the business were less than sanitary.

"They would go in and basically use the desks as a tattoo table. So they'd just clean off the desks and proceed with either the piercing or the tattooing, on the desk,” he said.

Investigators say Dover took more than 600 photographs of his work, and many are extremely graphic pictures of genital tattoos and piercings.

The shop was open for about three years and never had a license. This week more than three dozen customers have told deputies that they got sick after their visits.

"We certainly have had a lot of complaints. A lot of people stepping forward saying, 'My child got a tattoo there, and after she got a tattoo, she had an infection, and it turned out to be a staph infection," the officer said.

Investigators believe minors were clients too, some who were photographed and sometimes videotaped without their knowledge.

They say it's possible the owner will face more charges, but they're still overwhelmed with the hundreds of graphic pictures and videos and they're still trying to identify who the victims are.

Dover currently faces charges of running an unlicensed tattoo parlor and resisting arrest.

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