City denies liquor license at business due to nearby shootings; owner says he's being 'scapegoated'

A Cape Girardeau banquet hall has been denied a city liquor license after police cited several incidents of violence in the vicinity of the south-side business and said the hall should be held to a different standard than bars and other establishments.

While shootings and other violent disturbances have occurred near other businesses in the city, police Lt. Brad Smith wrote in a report accompanying the denial letter those businesses are “open to the public and anyone can show up.”

Smith wrote the River Valley Banquet Center, 631 S. Sprigg St., “is booked ahead of time and he (owner Ricky Werner) or his manager can do some research ... to make sure that the people he is renting to are not affiliated with gun violence or the performers have had a history of fights or promote violence.”

The officer added Werner’s “lack of responsibility as an owner/manager/partner is a public safety concern and Mr. Werner should not be able to obtain a license.”

Werner has appealed city manager Scott Meyer’s decision to not renew the retail liquor by the drink and Sunday sales liquor license.

Werner and his attorney, Ron Garms, have said the city has unfairly sought to shut down the banquet hall. They said the hall was not to blame for the three incidents cited by police.

Violent incidents have occurred in the past outside downtown bars and they have not been closed down by the city, Garms said.

He said it appears the banquet center has been singled out because it is in the south part of the city.

“A great many of his customers have been black,” he said.

City officials in May said they wanted to shut down the center in the aftermath of a weekend shooting incident in which approximately 50 shots were fired.

The incident occurred April 27.

No one was struck by the bullets in the April 27 incident, according to police. The discovery of 42 shell casings showed shots were fired by at least three people outside the banquet center, police said. Eight vehicles were struck by bullets.

City officials said the incident was just the latest violent episode at River Valley Banquet Center.

“Somebody is going to die if they keep operating like that,” police chief Wes Blair said after the incident.

Werner, who also owns the Independence Place bar, has said he is being scapegoated.

No shots were fired inside the banquet center, Werner said.

“We had no control over the matter,” he said.

Garms said the shooting began at a nearby location, not at the banquet hall.

Werner appealed the city’s rejection of his liquor license renewal request. The city’s three-member Liquor License Review Board will hear the appeal Monday.

If the denial is upheld, the issue can be appealed to the Cape Girardeau City Council, city attorney Eric Cunningham said.

Meyer, the city manager, said Friday that Werner can continue to operate the banquet center during the appeal process.

In denying the liquor license, Meyer cited the police’s department findings the center’s location was the scene of three incidents of violence since July 2018, and Werner operated the establishment without a business license from January through most of April of this year.

Werner told police he didn’t realize the business license had expired and he subsequently renewed it.

Besides the April 27 shooting spree, police reported hearing a gunshot after which several people fled from the center March 31 when a Chicago entertainer, with gang affiliations, was scheduled to perform.

The manager of the hall, Jimmy Seabaugh, told police he did not know who had rented the facility.

On July 21, 2018, a fight occurred at the South Sprigg Street address in front of a large crowd. Police said the crowd became hostile and officers deployed pepper spray to stop the fight and disperse the crowd. After further investigation, one person was issued a summons for assault, police said.

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