Does Club in Cicilline's Building Get Preferential Treatment?
GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle
Does Club in Cicilline's Building Get Preferential Treatment?
Now, Aqua Lounge on Broad Street is facing a thirty day closure after an August shooting on its premises — and the city solicitor is looking to pull its license altogether.
“There is absolutely no thought as to how [the board] assesses penalties, there are no factors that make it worse or better,” said Board of Licenses member Johanna Harris, who had previously served as Board Chair. “Vault lied about the location of the shooter. That's an intrinsically bad thing. You'd think it would be closed.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTVault, which is in the building now solely owned by lawyer John Cicilline on Atwells Avenue, had been closed temporarily for five days following the incident on June 21 in which a patron, who was escorted out of the club by bouncers, came back with a gun and shot a bystander outside.
Board Chair and Cicilline ally State Senator Juan Pichardo had initially overruled the city’s recommendation to close Vault for ten days. However, after the BOL learned the bouncer had lied, saying he was told by management to say the shooter had not been in the club, Vault was shut for an additional five days from July 27 to July 31.
Meanwhile, Aqua, which is located on Broad Street, has been closed since August 15, when a shooting took place inside the club that saw a patron fire a shot, which bounced off the ceiling and hit another patron. Aqua is due before the BOL again this week, where lawyer Nick Hemond said the establishment could be facing a thirty day closure in total — and a possible license revocation.
Latest Shooting
“I think when you have a shooting like this, you're looking at a long closure. Back in in April, there was an incident around Aqua where there was a guy who had been involved in a fight in the club who came back with a gun and fired shots, that got a 72 hour closure,” said Hemond.
“As for this past incident, there was a gun inside, we didn't deny it. Aqua is a lounge, not a club, it doesn’t have a [nightclub] license. It basically has the same security requirements as an Applebees,” said Hemond. “They had security that night with the crowd, [owner] Jesus Titin isn’t stupid -- but he found out after that two of the security guards worked with someone in the party and didn’t pat [the suspect] down.”
“I think folks respect what Jesus has done on Broad Street, and he was rewarded with 3 AM closing time. He’s got a good relationship with public safety. We have a new security plan, we have a new security staff, after we had tried security and it didn't work. He's been in business 13 years. This is not a revocation case,” said Hemond.
“As for Vault, yes [they] were both shootings, but that one happened outside at Vault, I think they’re two different cases altogether,” said Hemond. “I think Joanna Harris would have closed them both. She comes in with her mind already made up -- I think the board has tried to come up with the right penalties in each case.”
Providence Clubs and Reports of Crime and Violence - 2016
August 20
Van Gogh Nightclub
The Providence Board of Licenses voted on Saturday at an emergency hearing to shutter the Harris Avenue establishment for 72 hours, after a man was taken to the hospital with stab wounds following a fight in the vicinity of the club in the early hours of Saturday morning.
"When folks started calling me, I thought they were reaching out about Tel Aviv -- I had no idea yet another incident had occurred," said Providence Board of Licenses member Johanna Harris, of hearing from people on what she thought was the separate incident that occurred at another Providence club just the night before (see next slide).
August 19
Tel-Aviv
The South Water Street establishment was raided by Providence Police on Friday night, following a weeks-long narcotics investigation.
WPRI.com reported that two men were arrested - Theo Spyridis, 39, the bar’s manager, and Antonio Reverdes, 47, a customer -- and according to police, with a "good amount of cocaine and significant amount of cash."
Tel Aviv will now go before the city’s Board of Licenses at an upcoming meeting.
August 15
Aqua
Providence’s Board of Licenses ordered Aqua Hookah Lounge to temporarily close following a violent incident earlier in August - marking the second instance of an issue violence at the establishment.
Providence police told WPRI.com a passing officer heard a gunshot and saw people running from the establishment on Broad Street.
Police said a bullet grazed a man in his arm, but the wound was not serious. The Board decided to close the club for 72 hours -- and revisit the issue.
August 8
Flow
The police report for the August 8 incident at FLOW nightclub at Cranston Street and Potters Avenue -- that included four stabbing victims -- described victims as saying they were leaving the club at the time the altercation took place.
The club was closed for three days, and at the August 16 Board of Licenses' continuation of the show-cause hearing, the club entered into a deal with the City that would include police detail during a 45 day review period -- but that the stabbings would not go on Flow's record.
"The biggest travesty is they took a witness who'd been subpoenaed -- and appeared -- and they released him," said Jewelry District Association President Sharon Steele, who attends nearly all Board of License hearings. "Then the city and the club came together on a "recommendation" out in the hall. No witness, no detective testimony, and [the city] allowed them to say it was purely a disturbance of the public but it wasn't a stabbing at the club."
June 21
Vault Nightclub
The Providence Board of Licenses voted on July 21 to close The Vault nightclub on Federal Hill for an additional five days following a shooting outside the club - after a bouncer admitted to lying to police about the shooter having been inside, saying he was told by club management to lie.
The embroiled Providence hotspot, which is in a building formerly co-owned by Congressman David Cicilline and now solely owned by his brother John, was slated to have a ruling made ten days following a July 15 meeting, but the city unexpectedly moved it up earlier.
On Thursday, the Board of Licenses voted to shut Vault for five days, from July 27 to 31, reduce the weekend closing time from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. for 60 days -- and required the club to increase security, and pay up $2000 fine.
