COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The city of Columbus has shut down a local bar after it operated without a liquor license, and dozens of calls for violent crimes came in at the establishment.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein announced that PKWY Lounge & Grill, located at 5200 Riding Club Lane, was boarded up Tuesday by Columbus police after the bar illegally operated without a valid liquor license, and more than 60 crimes, including shootings, stabbings and fights, took place at the bar.
“Businesses that don’t abide by the law and threaten public safety will be held accountable for their actions. We will shut you down,” Klein said. “This bar was illegally operating without a liquor license, but to make matters worse, it was a hub for gun crimes and lawlessness that threatened the safety of patrons and area residents.”
Court documents show that on May 4, the location previously called Atlantis Grill & Sports Bar originally had a liquor permit issued under the business name 1714 Zettler LLC. However, that license was canceled and a request to transfer it to PKWY Lounge & Grill was denied by the Ohio Division of Liquor Control, due to an outstanding tax issue with the bar and after an objection by the city.
Klein said that on multiple occasions after the bar lost its liquor license, undercover Columbus police officers were able to buy liquor and beer at PKWY.
Klein also listed in the release several of the crimes reported at the bar since February 2021, including:
- On Feb. 20, 2021, CPD went to the premises on the report of multiple gunshots fired following an altercation that began inside the bar.
- On March 13, 2021, CPD responded to a report of several shots fired as a result of a fight inside and outside the bar. Multiple vehicles at the premises were struck by bullets.
- On March 28, 2021, CPD checked out reports from bar security that a patron was carrying a handgun. While officers were on scene, an unknown suspect fired gunshots in an adjacent lot used for bar parking.
- On Sept. 13, 2021, a woman reported to CPD that she had been assaulted inside the bar.
- On Dec, 12, 2021, a fight occurred in the parking lot of the premises, where two people stabbed each other.
- On Jan. 23, 2022, a victim reported a fight to CPD involving shots fired, including from suspects with guns waiting outside for people they had been fighting with inside the bar.
- In March 2022, CPD responded to multiple reports of fights at the premises, including a group of at least 10 people fighting in the parking lot outside the bar on March 6.
- On April 13, 2022, CPD checked out reports of a person inside the bar with a handgun, and on April 30, 2022, CPD arrested an individual for possession of a handgun inside the bar. That person attempted to flee arresting officers. That same night, CPD was dispatched to the premises following reports of six or seven gunshots fired at the bar.
- On May 1, 2022, CPD went to the bar for reports of a large fight inside.
To see the full court order to shut down the PKWY Lounge & Grill can be found below.