State yanks Main Street Bar liquor license in response to September shooting

A Cape Girardeau bar where a Tamms, Ill., man was shot by a police officer in September will lose its liquor license.

The Main Street Bar, 701 N. Main St., will have its liquor license revoked Dec. 12 unless the owner, Rick Werner, files an appeal or sells the bar to an owner who can pass state scrutiny, said Peter Lobdell, state supervisor of the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.

The incident Sept. 27, in which officer Joseph "Joey" Hann shot Jordan T. Modicue, 20, of Tamms, Ill., was just the latest of a series of incidents that forced the revocation, Lobdell said. In that incident, Modicue was pointing a black gun at the head of another man when he was ordered to drop the weapon. He turned, did not drop the gun and Hann fired, believing Modicue intended to fire at officers.

Hann's actions were found to be "reasonable and lawful," Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle wrote in a letter in which he explained his decision not to charge Hann. Modicue was not charged.

"There is just too much violence at the place and the owner isn't supervising the operation of the place to the degree it should be supervised," Lobdell said.

In the spring, the license for Main Street Bar was suspended for 20 days in large part due to a violent incident in September 2007. Police were called to a quarrel between two women that resulted in one woman being hit in the face with a beer bottle. A half-hour later, police returned on reports that shots had been fired.

An officer arrived to find numerous people engaged in a brawl, police told the Southeast Missourian at the time, and officers had to push their way through crowds fleeing the bar.

The revocation at Main Street Bar also means Werner will lose the license to operate Independence Place, 5 S. Henderson Ave., Lobdell said. That bar features drag shows and caters to the gay community in Cape Girardeau.

Werner could not be reached immediately for comment.

For more information, check back at semissourian.com or read Tuesday's Southeast Missourian.