SPD wants to prevent ‘nuisance’ club owner from expanding
Mar 6, 2013, 6:25 PM | Updated: Mar 7, 2013, 5:42 am
The Seattle Police Department wants the liquor control board to block the manager of a "nuisance" club from taking over more clubs in the city. (Linda Thomas photo)
(Linda Thomas photo)
Some nightclubs are magnets for trouble.
Munchbar in Bellevue is one, permanently shutdown after a fatal shooting. Citrus in South Lake Union is another, according to police.
Citrus was recently flagged as being a “chronic nuisance property” and now police are concerned about the club manager who is trying to take over another club in the University District.
The Seattle Police Blotter reports a Citrus manager applied to take over the Fusion Ultra Lounge, where he is also a manager, and they’re worried.
In response, the city sent letters to the Washington State Liquor Control Board objecting to the man’s request for a new liquor license at the location near 8th Avenue NE and NE 45th Street.
The letter details violence at the U-District club and calls it a “dangerous venue.”
A Seattle police officer writes, “As patrons leave [Fusion], assaults, thefts, and shootings have become common in the street and parking lot. Currently, there is no other club in the North Precinct that demands the resources of the police department like Fusion,” says SPD officer Loren Street.
The letters outline a series of incidents:
July 2012, a fight involving 30 people spilled out of the club into a parking lot. One man was dragged into a nearby garage and beaten unconscious. He also sustained several facial fractures in the attack. Despite the fact that the brawl started inside the club, Fusion security staff members were not able to provide police with much useful information about the incident.
December 2012, an extremely intoxicated patron stood outside of the club taunting security staff after he was ejected. He then punched and spat blood on another patron walking out of the club.
January 2013, someone fired off a gun in a parking lot next to Fusion, striking a vehicle. When police returned to the club to talk to employees about the shooting, they’d locked up and gone home.
February 2013, police responded to a fight involving 50 people, which spilled out of the club onto the street. Later in the month, several men left Fusion and got into a fight at a gas station. During the fight, one suspect used a baseball bat to shatter a car windshield, leaving a victim with shards of broken glass in his eye.
The City also noted that the man trying to take over Fusion has a history of involvement with other troubled clubs.
No one from Citrus has been available yet to comment on this.
The Liquor Control Board is considering the SPD’s request.
By LINDA THOMAS
