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Downtown after-hours club padlocked for 5 days History of violence prompts judge's order Saturday, June 09, 2001 By Jeffrey Cohan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
A judge yesterday ordered a Downtown after-hours club where six people were shot last weekend to be padlocked for at least the next five days.
After prosecutors presented a list of violent incidents connected to Club SLP, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Patrick McFalls ordered the club closed until next Wednesday, when he will consider shutting it down for a full year at the request of the district attorney.
The club, at 435 Wood St., doesn't have a license to serve alcohol in the first place, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer DiGiovani told the judge.
"The mere fact that they operate on a daily basis, furnishing and serving alcohol, is illegal," she said.
Attorney David Shrager, representing club owner Willis Washington, refused to comment on allegations that the club is serving alcohol without a license. But Shrager did say Washington has tried to prevent violence at his club with security guards and metal detectors.
"The SLP has made every effort to avoid problems," the attorney said.
The most seriously injured victims from last Saturday's shooting -- Merrior Coleman, 21, of the Hill District, and Marquis Carter, 23, of Homestead -- have been upgraded to fair condition at Mercy Hospital.
No arrests have been made.
Shrager called the shooting an "aberration," telling McFalls that a person in a wheelchair smuggled the gun past security guards. If the club is allowed to reopen, it would use a different method to check patrons in wheelchairs for metal objects, the attorney said.
But last Saturday's shooting was only the latest in a string of violent incidents associated with the club since it opened last December, according to DiGiovani.
According to the district attorney's petition, at least 19 police officers took part in dispersing an unruly crowd in the club at 4:20 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 17. Police saw club employee Michael Revis hit two customers on the head with a flashlight. Three loaded handguns were seized. Six people, including Revis, were charged with crimes.
On Saturday, Feb. 10, two people were shot at the club. Emmanuel Cutler, a club employee, has been charged with the shootings.
The petition also links the Feb. 12 shooting death of Jamie Daniels, 21, to the SLP Club. Daniels was shot while driving across the Smithfield Street Bridge, but the shooting stemmed from an incident that occurred earlier that same evening in the SLP Club, according to Daniels' mother.
Shrager argued that SLP Club cannot be blamed for Daniels' killing.
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