NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. (STNG) - A local beauty shop has been closed after a recent raid by the Police Department's tactical narcotics team.

Taneisha Stackhouse, 29, hair stylist and owner of Stack's House of Style, said the salon at 1800 Sheridan Road was crowded with customers and children the evening of May 1 when a SWAT team burst in with guns drawn and a drug-sniffing dog.

"They yelled 'Freeze! Put your (expletive) hands in the air,'" she said.

Stackhouse, who surveyed her ransacked shop on Tuesday -- clumps of hair, beauty products and curlers strewn across the floor -- said the police closed the business despite failing to find drugs. Shortly after the raid, city inspectors arrived and issued 24 code violations.

"They tore up my shop, found no drugs, and I just passed an inspection the previous Monday," said Stackhouse, who argues that the raid was illegal -- the search warrant was in the name of a second cousin -- and that police have harassed her for more than a year.

North Chicago Police Investigations Cmdr. George McClary said the team found "evidence," but he said he could not "specify" what that was. No drug arrests were made, however.

Stackhouse denies that drugs are sold or used in the shop.

"A search warrant was executed because of activity that occurred in the shop," McClary said. "We also discovered some of the barbers did not have the required license. So they were brought down to the station and issued citations."

Stackhouse said she is being made the scapegoat for crime in the neighborhood. The area at 18th Street and Sheridan Road -- just west of the city's new Grant Place retail center -- has long been a haven for drug trafficking and prostitution.

Police Chief Mike Newsome said his department is not targeting Stack's.

"The mayor is trying to clean up North Chicago," Newsome said. "We're not only going after beauty and barbershops, but mechanics and day-care centers. We have to make sure all barbershops comply with state regulations. Just because she (Stackhouse) was not charged with anything, doesn't mean we didn't find anything."

Stackhouse said she has asked for help to curb crime in the neighborhood from both Newsome and Mayor Leon Rockingham. She has asked that a police car used for surveillance in trouble spots be parked near her shop. The car now sits on the north side of the 2300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, across from Dave's Barbershop, owned by Dave Newsome, father of the police chief.

"Are they trying to get my business?" Stackhouse asked.

"That's totally ludicrous and just not true," Chief Newsome said. "I'm here to abide by state law. I'm not doing anything outside my job scope."

Rockingham said the surveillance car has been parked in its current spot since a man was shot in the neck near Honore Avenue and King Drive a month ago.

"When we get complaints in reference to people hanging out and possible illegal activity, we look into it," Rockingham said. "My job is to try to make sure the streets and neighborhoods are safe. I'm not trying to focus on any particular establishment, but if things are going on, even next door to me, I would expect my police department to investigate and correct the situation."

Lynn Smith of Lake Forest, who owns the Stack's building, declined to verify a report that he has been in negotiations with the city of North Chicago over sale of the building and an adjacent parking lot.