Shooting could put club license at risk
Even before a shooting early Monday, Sugar Nightclub on Capitol Hill was facing at least a 30-day suspension of its liquor license because it had racked up three violations since August for allegedly allowing minors inside, according to the State Liquor Board.
The Liquor Board is considering a more serious emergency suspension of Sugar’s license even as the promoter of the Sunday night event said the nightclub’s doors will close permanently after a triple shooting at the club early Monday.
Club owner George Foster couldn’t be reached for comment.
The shooting occurred during “Sin Sunday,” an 18-and-up event promoted by London Trash Productions, according to Sugar Nightclub’s Web site. London Trash Productions also hosted a “Sin Sunday” event July 1 at Tabella Restaurant & Lounge, in Belltown, which ended in a shooting outside the club that injured an 18-year-old bystander.
“It is unfortunate that one small mishap, one hiccup in normal operation” resulted in the Monday shootings, according to an e-mail statement sent out late Monday. The statement did not elaborate, and the promoter promised that future events at other clubs would be marked by security “above and beyond any level previously experienced.”
The controversial 18-and-up events involve separating the bar from the dance floor, sometimes only by a rope. Younger patrons are not allowed in the bar area but can dance. At Sugar, the bar is on an upper floor.
Police said two of the three people shot at Sugar were under 21. Police did not release any of the victims’ names. The shooter remained at large Monday.
Mayor Greg Nickels weighed in Monday, saying the shooting — the second gun incident at a Seattle nightclub in the past month — was further evidence the city should require all club owners to obtain a special license that could be suspended or revoked if their clubs endangered public safety. In September, a divided City Council balked at instituting a nightclub license.
“If we had the right licensing tools in place in Seattle, we could have intervened with Sugar before violence got out of hand — and acted immediately to shut it down after shots were fired,” Nickels said in a statement. “Instead, we are once again in a situation where we have to ask a state liquor agency to take the lead in preventing more club violence in our city.”
Earlier this month, Nickels asked the Liquor Board for an emergency suspension of Ximaica, a downtown nightclub at 2224 Second Ave. Nickels alleged that on Oct. 21 two people armed with three handguns chased a man into the club.
Brian Smith, a spokesman for the Liquor Board, said the agency is still reviewing the mayor’s request.
Sugar Nightclub, at 916 E. Pike St., received its liquor license in April 2006 and is up for annual review in August 2008, Smith said. It has received two warnings for overserving patrons, he said.
Foster, the club’s owner, has operated two other local bars, Smith said. From 1998 to 2006, he was responsible for The Downunder in Belltown and was not cited for any violations there. From 1994 to 1997, he was in charge of 8th Street, a Bellevue bar that received one violation for overserving patrons, Smith said.
Sugar was one of 15 nightclubs targeted over the summer in Operation Sobering Thought, a police sting of Seattle nightclubs. Sugar received its first violation for allowing a minor in during that sting and a second in September when the Liquor Board did a follow-up, Smith said.
The most seriously injured person in Sunday’s shooting was a 22-year-old man who was hit in the abdomen, police said. A Harborview Medical Center official said Monday the man was in serious condition.
A 19-year-old woman was shot in the leg, and a 20-year-old man was shot in the wrist, police said, but those injuries were not considered life-threatening.
London Trash Productions is one of several event-marketing firms, which bring patrons to nightclubs and make their profit from the cover charges at the door.
Josh Berman, principal director of Soul Gorilla, one of the area’s large promoters, says 18-and-over events cause most of the problems in Seattle’s night scene because they draw gangs to clubs.
“The way you make money is to throw an 18-and-up event,” Berman said. “That’s where this stuff happens. … We’ve never touched it and never will.”
Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com
Staff reporters Christina Siderius and Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this article.