THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050542
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT and JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
The City Council agreed Tuesday to shut down two controversial nightclubs - the Ebony Showcase and David's II - after a weekend shootout and melee at the Ebony forced police to block off part of Airline Boulevard and warn neighbors to stay in their homes.
Collinswood neighborhood residents, who have complained about the noise of the Ebony Showcase, said they watched in horror early Saturday morning as hundreds of patrons fled exits in the building, dropping to the ground each time gunfire erupted.
The shooting, which the club's owner said was part of a robbery, continued for about 30 minutes. Police estimate that 70 to 90 gunshots were fired.
Men and women jumped privacy fences and ran through the nearby neighborhood trying to get away, according to witnesses and police. A four-page police report described similar panic in front of the building:
``The parking lot of The Ebony Showcase became flooded with several hundred patrons of the business. . . . Vehicles began racing out of the parking lot, hopping curbs and filling all exits to Airline Boulevard.''
About 1,700 people were in the club at the time, the report said.
Police saw and heard ``rapid gunshots'' coming from ``numerous places in the parking lot'' and from behind the building.
``We were scared,'' said William Creel, who lives directly behind the Ebony Showcase. ``Wouldn't you be? They were jumping my fence, running through my yard and they were shooting in this field,'' he said, pointing behind him.
Agents for the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, who were investigating complaints about the nightclub, videotaped part of the chaos. They refused to release the tape or comment on the shootout.
One woman was stabbed in the arm and police estimated property damage to surrounding businesses at nearly $21,000 - mostly because of bullet holes in windows. Police said no one was shot.
Almost every available Portsmouth officer - about 15 - was called to the nightclub. Because police were tied up at the Ebony Showcase they were unable to respond to nearly 70 other calls for help, one councilman said. Police Chief Dennis A. Mook told the council that police could handle only top priority emergencies while trying to control the situation at the Ebony Showcase.
No one has been arrested, Mook told the council.
The council also agreed Tuesday to close David's II, a downtown nightclub Mook said has a history of problems, particularly on the holidays. Police have been called in to control crowds ranging from 700 to 1,000 at David's three times during the past summer, he said.
The council declared both businesses dangerous and informally voted 5-1 to close Ebony Showcase and 6-1 to close David's. Vice Mayor Johnny M. Clemons did not agree with the consensus, and Councilman James T. Martin abstained from the vote on the Ebony Showcase but agreed to close David's.
The city attorney must go to court to have the businesses declared a public nuisance. If the courts agree, the nightclubs would be closed.
David Casteel, an owner of the Ebony Showcase, said Tuesday that he would sue the city if it closed his business.
``I assumed that they wanted to close me down,'' Casteel said. ``That was their plan all along.''
Casteel said the gunshots were a diversion. He said 20 people broke in the back door and robbed the club. ``Guns were not pointed at anybody,'' said Castell, who was in the bar at the time. ``They were pointed at the top of the bar. They just wanted people to get down on the floor.''
Mook, however, said he was never told of a robbery.
Casteel has blamed racism for the tensions between his business and the neighborhood. The Ebony Showcase is a predominantly black club fronting a mostly white neighborhood.
Alonzo Terrell Martin, the owner of David's II, could not be reached for comment.
Neither club's owners attended the Tuesday council meeting. Casteel said the city had not informed him of the meeting.
In his report to the council, Mook detailed the summer's incidents at David's II. He said the police were called in Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day weekends to control the crowds.
They also had to close off High Street to all traffic, including fire and rescue vehicles, because of the problems customers at David's created when they double-parked on High Street, he said.
The problem Labor Day occurred when David's II advertised a major act. About 700 people showed up and were told the club would not open until 9:30 p.m. In a push to get in, the crowd broke through a glass-block facade.
Mook said 30 officers were instructed to approach the crowd in a ``gentle and orderly'' manner to avoid a major disturbance.
Police closed the business that night and ordered the crowd to disperse.
Mook said police took a similar approach to Saturday's disturbance at the Ebony Showcase.
After they realized that gunmen were shooting in the air and not at people, police stayed across the street and allowed the crowd to escape before taking control of the area, Mook said after the meeting.
Mook said even if there had been 100 police officers facing a crowd of 1,700, it would have been foolish to burst into the crowd. ``That's what happened at Greekfest,'' he said, referring to riots at Virginia Beach's Oceanfront five years ago.
During the meeting, both Mook and Clemons evoked images of Greekfest, saying that if the police had tried to strong-arm the crowd at Ebony Showcase a riot could have erupted.
``This city got in a situation of unsafe anarchy,'' Councilman Cameron C. Pitts said in an interview Tuesday. ``If our city can't take care of it, we're going to find another way.''
Stuart E. Katz, the city attorney, said trouble has escalated at the Ebony Showcase since it opened last spring.
``This has gone from complaints about noise, to a bomb scare . . . and now we've had a stabbing, fights and gunshots,'' Katz said. ILLUSTRATION: Maps
STAFF
Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
At the Ebony Showcase on Airline Boulevard in Portsmouth, hundreds
of patrons fled early Saturday morning when shooting erupted in the
parking lot.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERIES SHOOTING NIGHTCLUBS by CNB