Shootings Lead To Closure Of Playhouse Lounge; Skyzoo Gets Light Penalty After Gunshots, Owner And Officer "Chest Bumps"

  • Thursday, July 20, 2017
  • Gail Perry

Shootings in the parking lot of two bars sent both businesses to the Chattanooga Beer Board Thursday morning to face charges of disorderly conduct.

 

On June 4, Chattanooga Airport Police Officer Mark Barns was sitting in the parking lot of Skyzoo, 5709 Lee Highway, when he heard a shot fired. Five to 10 seconds after the first shot, he heard three more.

 

The bar is adjacent to the airport, and he said there is a history of problems spilling over onto their property, so officers have been instructed to be there when Skyzoo is open.

 

After the first shot, he said it took five minutes to reach the front of the parking lot because about 300 people and cars were in the lot and it was “mass chaos” as the business was closing. He said several people were coming out of the building, some being carried and others vomiting. He asked someone at the door to have Leo Dacoregio, the owner, come outside. He testified that the owner screamed in his face that the parking lot was not his job and that his hired security would handle it. The officer replied that his security were “basically morons.”

 

Officer Barns said also that Dacoregio was intoxicated, a beer code violation, since no employee is allowed to drink on the premises of where they work. Airport Officer Mitchell Smith, witnessed the owner coming out the front door as well as the confrontation and said he got between the two men and he was “chest bumped” by Dacoregio, who he said smelled of alcohol. A bouncer pulled the club owner away from the officers.

 

Officer Barns called the Chattanooga Police and turned it over to them, since Skyzoo is in their call area.

 

The story differed when told by Leo Dacoregio. He claimed to be in the parking lot to make sure everyone was leaving when the shootings occurred. He said there were six-seven cars left in the lot at 2:40 when he said that he made his way around the building and pushed people inside to keep them safe. He saw the police car and Officer Barns was yelling for him to learn to control people, and called him and his staff morons. Dacoregio said after that, he quit being polite and respectful, as he usually said he was. He said the officer got out of the car and bumped him in the chest and accused him of assaulting an officer, before someone separated them. He told the board that he never drinks at Skyzoo.

 

There were 12 surveillance cameras in the parking lot that will erase after two weeks unless they are saved, and Dacoregio did not save the videos.

 

Chattanooga Police Officer John Collins said that the bar calls the police often to report disorders, as they are asked to do, yet no one called after this incident.

 

Violations for the multiple charges were heard separately. The beer board’s decisions were tempered because no physical evidence had been gathered - no blood alcohol tests and no films to back up the testimony. Board member Andre Harriman said that all the tools are available, and should be used for the board to make a good decision. To the charge of running a disorderly place, a letter of reprimand was put in the business’s file with no penalties. There were three failed motions to the charge of an employee drinking on the job. Skyzoo offered to settle the matter by taking a one-day suspension in the middle of the week that will take place on Aug. 8.

 

Gang activity was to blame for the shootings that took place in the parking lot of Playhouse Lounge, 4272 Bonny Oaks Dr., it was testified. Witnesses told the officers responding that around 3:30 a.m. on June 11, the owner, employees and security were in the back of the building drinking when the shots were fired. At the time, the place was still crowded with more people than the legal capacity, it was stated. Police started getting calls from area hospitals around 4 a.m. that people were arriving for treatment of shooting injuries. There was no call from the bar to alert the police. When police arrived at Playhouse Lounge, they found over 40 shell casings in the parking lot. “It appeared to be quite a hectic shoot-out,” said Officer Collins.

 

That night, the owner, Tiffoni Monique Powell, told Officer Collins that she was planning to surrender her beer license. Since that time, he and other officers have attempted to contact her multiple times by phone and they have made multiple trips to the business, with no response. A certified letter was also sent but not answered. No activity appears to have taken place at the business since this incident. Officer Collins asked to board to revoke the beer permit, which was done with a unanimous vote.

 

A server at Mikado Thai Esan, 7003 Lee Highway, sold a beer to an undercover, underage customer on May 25, despite asking to see their ID. Because the owner said that his servers had not been trained in alcohol sales, the board issued a 30-day suspension of the restaurant’s beer permit that will begin July 27.

 

Coachworks at the Club, 4817 Adams Road in Hixson, was given a beer license for a small restaurant inside the tennis club, which has six indoor courts and some outside clay courts.

 

Sigler’s Craft Beer & Cigars, 1309 Panorama Dr., was also approved for a consumer and carry-out beer license. The business was described as a package store selling craft beer. There is a tasting room as well as taps to fill growlers.

 

The Passage, 3116 Brainerd Road, will open in the previous location of Melanie’s by Dr. Thomas Jefferson Brooks, who owned the other bar. The new business with the capacity of 214 will be a “professional activity center,” he told the board, where community will be able to relax, talk and have a beer. The Passage was approved to sell beer.

 

 

 

 

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