THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280432
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
State officials are stepping up their efforts to close Mr. Magic's nightclub in Virginia Beach by calling it a public nuisance and prohibiting the sale of alcohol.
An officer of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board recommended last week that the agency revoke the liquor license of the nightspot in the 500 block of Newtown Road.
This week, Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Humphreys appeared in court to prosecute the club on a public-nuisance charge that carries a maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine and forced closure. The case was postponed after club owners and the club's attorney, William P. Robinson, failed to appear.
``Every law enforcement agency . . . has had problems'' with the nightclub, Humphreys said, citing breached fire codes, underage drinking, assaults and two homicides. ``It's definitely a threat to public safety.''
The ABC Board has charged the club with failing to keep complete and accurate records; failing to meet the required ratio of food sales to liquor sales; failing to keep peace and order; and maintaining a noisy or disorderly establishment.
But Thursday, Robinson filed an appeal with the ABC Board to prevent revocation of the license.
``We do have some concerns with the review of the overwhelming evidence we introduced to show some questionable treatment of Mr. Magic's,'' said E. George Minns, administrator for Just Inns Inc., the company that owns the club. ``It's still an open question whether Mr. Magic's, to some degree, has been singled out.''
Mr. Magic's serves a mainly black clientele. Minns charged that frequent police searches of cars and patrons outside the club suggest a pattern of harassment.
Since January, police have confiscated as many as 40 guns from patrons outside the club. Two patrons died, in October and December last year, after being shot outside the club. A police officer was shot at by a patron in May but was not hurt.
KEYWORDS: NIGHTCLUBS VIRGINIA BEACH by CNB