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Baltimore's liquor board on Thursday night revoked the license of a Fells Point bar after police were called several times this spring to break up fights at the club, according to the panel's chairman.
Cheerleaders, in the 700 block of S. Broadway, was also raided during the summer by federal authorities searching for four high-powered handguns that police said had been purchased by the club's owner.
Liquor commissioners said they stripped the bar of its license after a series of attacks inside the club. On May 15, police were called to Cheerleaders for a fight that spilled into the street and left two women hospitalized, according to a Southwestern District officer who testified during Thursday's hearing. The next night, another fight broke out at the bar that required the entire Fells Point police sector, about 40 officers, to bring it under control, according to testimony.
Two owners of restaurants in the same block as Cheerleaders also testified against the bar and verified the police account.
"It's not every day that a licensee comes in to testify against another licensee. That was demonstrative of the enormous problem Cheerleaders was causing," liquor board Chairman Stephan Fogleman said.
Cheerleaders had previously been fined three times by the liquor board in a year's span for underage drinking.
The club's licensee, Vicente P. Javellana Jr., was out of the country and did not send anyone to testify on behalf of the bar, Fogleman said. The bar was not granted a stay. It was unknown whether Cheerleaders' lawyer, Gary Maslon, will appeal the decision in Baltimore Circuit Court.
In July, federal immigration agents and Baltimore County police tried to find shipping crates and luggage inside the bar that they believed were filled with assault weapons, according to the police report and a search warrant application filed at the time. The guns were not found and no charges were filed, but the disturbance angered several Fells Point business owners, who began a petition drive to have Cheerleaders' license revoked.
"The administration of Cheerleaders is deplorable and as a matter of public safety, [the owner] has no business with a liquor license," liquor commissioner Elizabeth C. Smith said.
It is the second time in the past two months the liquor board has revoked a license. Phantom, a dance club in Canton, lost its license in September after breaking an agreement with community leaders.
Cheerleaders, in the 700 block of S. Broadway, was also raided during the summer by federal authorities searching for four high-powered handguns that police said had been purchased by the club's owner.
Liquor commissioners said they stripped the bar of its license after a series of attacks inside the club. On May 15, police were called to Cheerleaders for a fight that spilled into the street and left two women hospitalized, according to a Southwestern District officer who testified during Thursday's hearing. The next night, another fight broke out at the bar that required the entire Fells Point police sector, about 40 officers, to bring it under control, according to testimony.
Two owners of restaurants in the same block as Cheerleaders also testified against the bar and verified the police account.
"It's not every day that a licensee comes in to testify against another licensee. That was demonstrative of the enormous problem Cheerleaders was causing," liquor board Chairman Stephan Fogleman said.
Cheerleaders had previously been fined three times by the liquor board in a year's span for underage drinking.
The club's licensee, Vicente P. Javellana Jr., was out of the country and did not send anyone to testify on behalf of the bar, Fogleman said. The bar was not granted a stay. It was unknown whether Cheerleaders' lawyer, Gary Maslon, will appeal the decision in Baltimore Circuit Court.
In July, federal immigration agents and Baltimore County police tried to find shipping crates and luggage inside the bar that they believed were filled with assault weapons, according to the police report and a search warrant application filed at the time. The guns were not found and no charges were filed, but the disturbance angered several Fells Point business owners, who began a petition drive to have Cheerleaders' license revoked.
"The administration of Cheerleaders is deplorable and as a matter of public safety, [the owner] has no business with a liquor license," liquor commissioner Elizabeth C. Smith said.
It is the second time in the past two months the liquor board has revoked a license. Phantom, a dance club in Canton, lost its license in September after breaking an agreement with community leaders.
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If they could only shut dwn Reefers and Rodo's then things would be alot better. Reefers should be getting shut dwn due to all of the Loyola kids that go and drink there underage and the owner encourages it and doesn't care about getting fined. With Cheerleaders getting shut dwn then we will have alot less violence on our streets north of Lancaster st where it all was. A special thanks goes out to the Liquor Board for getting rid of another trash bar.
Thamesstbars (10/31/2009, 3:01 AM )