Three days after a fatal fight on the Sinergy dancefloor, the state has ordered the downtown club to shut its doors.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. signed an order Tuesday summarily suspending the liquor permit of the club at 201 Crown St. The club must close its doors pending an investigation into last weekend’s deadly fight.
Bambaata Carr, 21, of Hamden, died from wounds sustained in a fight on the dance floor of the club at 1 a.m. Saturday, according to police. Two others were stabbed during the melee.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Farrell said the club failed in its responsibility to maintain a safe environment.
Suspending a liquor license without a hearing requires a high threshold, Farrell wrote. “Public health and safety must clearly be imperiled.” He said police reports led the state to believe that such a threshold had been reached.
Farrell pointed out a few details from police that indicate the club was lax in security: Cops found three people suffering from serious injuries — one of them fatal — at the nightclub Saturday morning. Cops found that the nightclub’s basement “has an unguarded rear door leading to the Crown Street garage.” Video footage showed clubgoers coming in and out of that door, Farrell wrote. Police found multiple bottles of champagne in the basement and in the hallway leading to the basement entrance.
A shell casing was found inside the bar, indicating a gun may have been fired inside the club, Farrell added.
“This kind of violence should not be happening anywhere, let alone in a location that holds a liquor license, where the permittee has a special obligation under the law to insure the safety of the public,” Farrell said.
The liquor license is issued to Assunta Delmonaco, whose son Anthony manages the club. Reached Tuesday, she declined comment.
“I don’t know anything about that,” she said. Her son could not be reached.
Good. Shut down R Bar, too.
As a New Haven taxpayer, I'll take a pass on these nightclub's contribution to jobs and income downtown.