Reports of violence, drugs prompt judge to close bar
Columbus authorities on Thursday closed an East Side night club they say has been plagued by shootings, drugs, robberies and violence for years and has been a bane of the neighborhood.
Authorities swooped down on Lounge 13, at 1320 Beechwood Road just north of East Livingston Avenue, to board it up after Franklin County Environmental Judge Dan Hawkins signed a temporary restraining order to close the club until an Oct. 2 hearing. City of Columbus attorneys want Hawkins to declare the club a public nuisance and shut it down for a year.
Hawkins said he signed the order because of the evidence of violent drug activity in and near the club.
“This neighborhood has been terrorized by this establishment,” Assistant City Attorney Bill Sperlazza said.
Matthew Cull, an attorney for the club’s owner, Blagoi Kostrevski, told The Dispatch that problems in the complaint can’t be blamed on the bar.
“It’s a violent neighborhood,” Cull said.
There have been 234 calls for police service to Lounge 13 since Oct. 18, 2014, according to Columbus police records.
Among the incidents listed in the 15- page complaint are the following:
On Aug. 20, 2016, someone reported to police that they had been robbed at gunpoint behind Lounge 13.
On Jan. 7, 2017, police found a man with a handgun there who had been involved in an argument outside the front door.
On Feb. 5, 2017, officers were on patrol when they heard gunshots from the club.
And on Sept. 15, 2017, someone was shot in the forearm while at the club.
In December 2016, the Columbus City Council objected to the renewal of the club’s liquor permit.
The objection is still pending with the Ohio Department of Liquor Control.
Six neighborhood groups also objected to the club’s permit renewal.
“We’ve had shootings, loitering, assaults as people go home, burglaries during the working hours of the bar, if it ever closes,” said Quay Barnes of the MidEast Area Community Collaborative.
“It’s been an eyesore and a problem for many years.”
Felicia Saunders of the Easthaven Civic & Blockwatch Association said prostitution and drugs are a constant problem.