Town of Beloit to consider revoking tavern’s alcohol license
TOWN OF BELOIT — The Beloit Town Board will hold a hearing Monday to consider suspending or revoking the alcohol license for the Silver Slipper Saloon, where police say they have responded to a number of fights, including a shooting in the parking lot Jan. 20.
The town board approved a resolution at its meeting Monday night authorizing a summons for an alcohol license sanction hearing to be issued for Jake McMahon Inc., and Darlene McMahon, agent for the Silver Slipper, 1901 S. Wisconsin Ave.
The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday at the Beloit Town Hall, 2871 S. Afton Road.
The Silver Slipper Saloon & Gentlemen’s Club is the former Bear Chest.
The summons includes a complaint from Town of Beloit Police Chief Steve Kopp, who said the business violated a town ordinance by “keeping or maintaining a disorderly or riotous, indecent or improper house.” Kopp recommends the bar’s license be revoked immediately.
Police have spent “substantially more time attempting to resolve problems” at the bar compared to any other alcohol beverage establishment in the town, Kopp wrote. Between Jan. 1, 2011, and Jan. 31, 2013, the police department responded to the bar at least 69 times, he wrote.
Kopp detailed the following incidents:
-- Jan. 20, 2013: A sergeant in the parking lot saw 20 to 30 people run away after hearing a number of gunshots at about bar time. Multiple vehicles left at high speed. Prior to the shootings, four men were “throwing gang signs and making confrontational statements” toward a crowd outside the bar. One of the men began shooting into the crowd with a handgun.
-- Jan. 12, 2013: An officer was dispatched at 1:44 a.m. to a fight inside the building. The officer learned a group of women “started fighting with each other, and then their boyfriends joined in the fight.” Bar employees attempted to move the fighters outside, where the fighting continued.
-- Aug. 9, 2012: At about midnight, an unruly patron who was asked to leave the bar started fights outside. Two bouncers went outside to try to get the patron to leave. Police were called, and a sergeant found two bouncers on top of the patron in the parking lot. The patron blew a 0.23 on a blood-alcohol concentration test.
-- May 12, 2012: An officer attempted to break up a number of people in the parking lot in a verbal and physical fight after bar closing. At least four people restrained one woman from going after another person. The woman was taken into custody and cited for underage drinking.
-- May 5, 2012: An officer observed at least 100 people in the parking lot attempting to enter the bar at 1:45 a.m. The bar manager told them the bar was closed, which appeared to anger the crowd. The crowd started a dance party in the parking lot with multiple vehicles playing “very loud” music. Meanwhile, at least 10 women were fighting inside the bar, where chairs were knocked down. It took 10 patrol units along with bar security to clear the parking lot.
-- April 29, 2012: An officer responded at 2:15 a.m. for a report of a patron who had thrown a beer bottle at a bartender. The patron was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
