Liquor license revocation notice sent to The River

A liquor license revocation notice from the City of Cape Girardeau has been sent to The River, also known as River Valley Banquet Center, where five people were shot early Sunday morning inside the business.

City manager Scott Meyer revoked the establishment’s liquor license Wednesday because the “licensee did permit or fail to prevent or suppress a violent quarrel, brawl, or fight on the premises,” according to the notice.

A business license application for River Valley Banquet Center LLC dated Aug. 6, 2019, identifies Ricky L. Werner of Cape Girardeau as the owner of the establishment, which is classified as a restaurant, bar and rental banquet hall.

Werner also holds the now-revoked liquor license for retail liquor by the drink and Sunday sales. He will have 10 days to submit a written appeal requesting a hearing before the city’s liquor license review board.

According to the notice, the liquor license revocation will take effect Feb. 11 if no written appeal request is filed.

Mayor Bob Fox said the city and the police department are also looking into possibly classifying the property as a nuisance, which would allow for revoking the establishment’s business license.

“It’s just so sad that it’s come to this,” Fox said.

A new appeal process for liquor licenses was implemented in December, according to Fox, which now requires liquor license revocation appeals to go before a circuit court instead of the city council.

“We felt like that was vital, because if somebody comes before the city council to protest a repeal, they aren’t sworn in as witnesses,” the mayor said. “They don’t necessarily have to tell the truth, and in a court situation, they do. They can be held liable for not telling the truth.”

Last year, the banquet hall’s liquor license renewal request was denied by the city manager after police cited multiple incidents of violence near the property, including an April 27 shooting in which approximately 50 shots were fired.

The banquet hall ultimately obtained a renewed license after the city council failed to secure four votes to uphold the decisions made by the city manager and the Cape Girardeau Liquor License Review Board.

During last year’s appeal hearing before the review board, attorney Ron Garms represented Werner and argued the banquet hall at 631 S. Sprigg St. was being unfairly singled out for the disturbances.

Garms also cited a shooting near a gas pump at Rhodes 101 Stop convenience store on North Sprigg Street, after which city officials did not seek to shut down the convenience store.

Acknowledging this argument, Fox said the number of recent incidents to have occurred near Werner’s business make this situation different.

“I know if somebody owns a gas station/convenience store down by the bridge and they have a shooting in their parking lot, you don’t close the business down,” Fox said. “It’s not that business owner’s fault that shooting occurred, and it’s probably not [Werner’s] fault that this shooting occurred. But when you’ve got repeated things happening over and over and over at the same place ... it’s a little different deal.”

In the wake of the Sunday shooting, Fox said the city is looking at solutions implemented in other cities facing similar issues, such as Columbia, Missouri, where a violent crime task force was recently formed.

“[We’re] looking at ways we can combat this and find out what’s going on,” Fox said. “Why is this happening? Is it drugs? Is it gangs? You just don’t know until you investigate it, and we need to spend more time doing that.”

Fox also mentioned societal problems contributing to the violence.

“Our society has this thing in their head, you know, just take your gun with you everywhere you go and when things don’t go your way you just pull out your gun and start shooting,” Fox said. “We have got to do something about it.”

Regardless of the causes of the recent violence in the business, the mayor gave his definitive opinion about the situation.

“In my mind, with the things that have happened in the past and things that just happened this past weekend, it’s a place we do not need open in Cape Girardeau.”

Attempts to reach the banquet hall at 631 S. Sprigg St. and by email were unreturned at the time of publication.