First responder-run, themed tattoo shop to become TV show
By: Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — Six years ago, Bryan Klevens, a sergeant with the Houston Police Department, decided to indulge his dream of opening a tattoo studio geared toward first responders. Today, that dream is a reality — and will also be reality TV.
Prison Break Tattoos, located at 5306 Washington Ave., is the subject of A&E Network’s “Hero Ink,” a 12-episode series debuting 9 p.m. Thursday chronicling the lives of those who work at or patronize the shop. Each half-hour show focuses on firefighters, police, EMS professionals or members of the military who come to Prison Break looking for a design that means something special to them.
“It’s a safe haven for first responders to feel comfortable getting tattoos by other first responders who can relate to their stories,” said Klevens, better known as B.K. Klev, an active-duty sergeant. “When I opened the studio — I had been getting tattoos for years and working undercover and different assignments — I never quite felt comfortable as an officer… in some of the studios I went to.
