COUNCIL REJECTS LICENSE OF CITY BAR

Cape Girardeau's police chief is worried about what could happen if one Cape Girardeau bar retains its liquor license.

Chief Rick Hetzel said that since July policemen have been called too many times to Peppy's Sports Bar, 823 S. Kingshighway, for offenses that include underage possession of alcohol, a shooting incident, a reported rape and five assaults, including some involving the bar's bouncers.

The City Council voted Monday night to deny a request of Peppy's owner Chester Dewayne Casey to renew the bar's retail liquor-by-the-drink license, in accordance with Hetzel's recommendation.

Peppy's manager Doug Armour referred a reporter to Casey, but he couldn't be reached to comment. Armour said, "I'm sure we'll find some way to stay open."

Hetzel told the council that one time management at the bar tried to persuade victims of a "serious assault" not to report the incident to the police.

"I think that location could be a place where we could have a very serious incident occur," Hetzel said.

Police routinely run checks on bars requesting liquor license renewals to see how often they are called to the establishments, what they are called for and how management responds, Hetzel said.

An activity report conducted by the police department on Peppy's showed police have responded to 23 incidents there since July 1, when a six-month probationary liquor license went into effect at the bar.

"That's just the documented ones," police Lt. Dale Ratliff, who put together the report, said Tuesday. "There may be others that we're not aware of. We're getting a lot more complaints at (Peppy's) than we are at any of the other establishments in Cape Girardeau," he said.

The probationary license expires Dec. 31.

The report says several patrons were assaulted by bouncers in one incident, and one patron reported being shocked by "some type of electrical device" by a bouncer.

"We don't approve of that kind of thing," said Ratliff. "If there's a problem with someone there, all they have to do is call us and we'll try to intervene. It just seems like things are getting out of control down there for us."

Given the number of assaults that have occurred at Peppy's, Hetzel said he is worried about what might happen next.

"What we're concerned about is somebody's going to get hurt and we're not going to be made aware of it," he said.

Hetzel also said that no one from Peppy's attended a special training session for liquor-license holders on how to deal with intoxicated individuals.

Hetzel said Peppy's management had assured the sponsors of the Nov. 12 seminar -- Cape Girardeau police, the Missouri Department of Public Safety, state liquor control and city licensing agencies -- that they would attend.

Mayor Al Spradling III said the fact that the bouncers were involved in the incidents to which the police responded was a big factor in the council's decision.

"That's certainly a serious situation when your own employees are creating serious situations and not learning to handle situations in less violent ways, and there are ways to handle situations with drunks that aren't violent," Spradling said.

City attorney Eric Cunningham said that while there is no appeals process for the council's decision against renewing the license, Casey could apply for a new license.

The application process would require another activity report by the police department.

"It's a simple matter of running through the process again," Cunningham said. "If they can convince the chief of police that they are going to run an orderly and legitimate business, then the chief of police could change his recommendation to the council and the council could decide to do something different than they've done."

While the chief of police makes recommendations on whether liquor licenses should be granted or renewed, final authority belongs to the council, said Cunningham.

The council put Peppy's liquor license on probation in June after police were called to the bar 43 times in 11 months. The calls in that time period included seven incidents in which Peppy's bouncers allegedly assaulted patrons.