Shootings put club under microscope

photo The Xcape ultra lounge, located at 2510 E. Main St. in downtown Chattanooga.

Multiple teen shootings at an East Main Street club have police looking closely at potential problems with the location.

After a third person was shot at Xcape UItra Lounge early Sunday morning - the third such shooting since October - Chattanooga police Lt. Nealie Hogg said Tuesday he will request the department's civil enforcement unit check into the club.

Civil enforcement researches problem properties related to crime.

Just after midnight Sunday, police were at the club doing crowd control when a group of teens began to fight, police say. During the fighting two volleys of gunshots were fired.

Santonio Rutledge, 18, told police he was shot in the knee.

Police has not arrested a suspect in the latest shooting as of Tuesday.

Two other teens were shot - one in the toe, the other in the knee - outside the club on Oct. 2. Police arrested Dennis A. Moore, 18, in that incident. Moore told investigators the shooting involved a rival gang.

Hogg, who commands Fox Zone which covers the club's neighborhood, said that the location, which is only open for promoted events and does not have regular hours, is likely being rented for events. Most of the teens who come to the parties at clubs such as Xcape arrive from different neighborhoods, which can cause problems, he said.

"You're going to have the 5 percent that are going to make trouble," Hogg said.

Keith Banks is listed at the city Treasury Department as the business license holder for the club, but when reached Tuesday, Banks said he hadn't had anything to do with the business since the October shooting.

He said he has turned in his beer and liquor licenses for the location and should not be listed as the business license holder.

Police records show Banks turned in his beer permit on Sept. 17 and did not have any permit violations during the life of the permit from March to September 2010.

The club then switched from an adult, alcohol-sales location to a teen-oriented hangout for promotional events, police said.

Hamilton County property records show that Raymond Hunter Jr. owns the property, buying it in 2000. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Business license postings in newspaper archives show that Boo Coe's Sports Bar and Grill operated there from 2000 until at least 2003. In 2004, Meg Kelley obtained a business license for The G Spot at the address. A year later the license transferred to Brian Freytag.

Ridgedale Neighborhood Association President Gary Ball said the property has been an on-and-off problem for a while.

"It goes back six or seven years," Ball said.

The club has opened and closed multiple times under different names and has always brought difficulties to the neighborhood, he said.

But when a shooting happens, the magnifying glass comes out.

"It just continues to drive the perception that (Ridgedale) is not making any progress," he said.

ENFORCEMENT

Map

Club Xcape

Club Xcape

Sgt. Bobby Simpson, who works in the department's civil enforcement unit, said that once he gets the nod from Hogg he will look at whether there is a "pattern of life-threatening events" at Xcape.

"One or two incidents alone won't, but I don't know if they've had any aggravated assaults there or not," Simpson said. "We attack the property, not who's running it so much."

He'll look at whether the property owner has put in security measures or done work to increase the site's safety.

"If you're going to do this, it has to be done well and right because you know that certain events are going to happen with teenagers," Simpson said.

If there is enough of a history, officers build a case to present to the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office. The DA will decide whether to take the case to Criminal Court and shut down the business.

Chattanooga officials have seen previously how a youth-oriented club can grow into a problem.

From 2006 to 2009, several violent incidents at Club Fathom at 412 Market St. prompted repeated interventions from police and even Mayor Ron Littlefield.

There was a 2006 stabbing that wounded three at the club, and at least three shootings at or near the club following that incident.

After police responded to 344 service calls during a three-year period at or near the club, Littlefield got involved and club operator Tim Reid stopped youth events at the site in the summer of 2009.

Simpson, who was involved in work on Club Fathom, said problems often happen when owners rent their places out for different events and don't closely monitor how events are handled.

"(There's) no standard for who runs the place," he said. "A lot of times it's that greed of getting that cover charge and not really caring about what happens once they get in."

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