HUNTINGTON - The owner of an 8th Avenue bar says he will likely shut it down after police found almost $30,000 worth of crack cocaine inside the establishment.
A report of shots fired Wednesday night led to Huntington police seizing the drugs at the 8th Avenue Club, which is located at 1602 8th Ave. The reported shooting and seizure is now being investigated by the Huntington Police Department and the state Alcohol Beverage Control Administration.
The ABCA suspended the bar's liquor license Thursday until its investigation is completed.
Mayor David Felinton said the incident might even lead to declaring the bar a public nuisance, which would be the first step toward shutting it down, if the bar owner doesn't close it himself.
Michael Thomas, owner of the 8th Avenue Club, said he will not open the bar this weekend and is strongly considering closing it for good and turning it into a grocery store.
"I'm aware that drugs and weapons are brought into my bar. I ain't going to lie about it or plead ignorance," Thomas said Thursday. "But bar owners can't control it all.
"I don't condone it, I don't sanction it and I sure as hell don't use drugs. If there's a pretense of drugs or weapons in my bar, I tell them to get that (expletive) out of there."
According to a police report, several people who were standing in front of the 8th Avenue Club about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday ran inside when police arrived. Some tried to kick through a fence at the rear of the bar, while others went back and forth into the bathroom, according to the report.
About 40 patrons were checked for weapons and later released. No arrests were made on the scene, according to the report.
After the patrons were released, officers found 93.2 grams of suspected crack cocaine, valued at $29,400, in baggies stashed throughout the club. Drugs were found in bathroom sinks and in plants on an outdoor patio area. Another officer found 36.2 grams in one spot, according to the report. A small baggie of marijuana valued at $30 was stashed in a small bathroom ornament.
Thomas has owned the 8th Avenue Club for 11 years. He is employed by the city of Huntington as a technical housing inspector. His duties include responding to residential complaints and issuing citations for rundown housing, high weeds and trash.
Thomas said he has tried to run a clean establishment, but has found it more difficult with an increase in drug activity in Huntington in recent years. His club is open only three nights a week -- Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays -- and closes at 1 a.m. Private clubs in West Virginia are allowed to stay open until 3 a.m.
Thomas and his son are the only people who work at the club. He used to employ doormen, but they became complacent, he said.
Thomas stressed that police did not find drugs in an area of the bar that would suggest they belonged to him or his son.
"It's not like Michael Thomas had the walls stocked with drugs in his bar," he said. "They found nothing behind the bar or in the kitchen area.
"It's a private club. I easily could have turned police away unless they had a search warrant. But I wanted them to come in. That's how serious I am about keeping drugs and guns out of my bar. There's always a welcome mat at my door for police or the liquor commissioner."
The police report also states Thomas gave permission for officers to search the bar for guns and drugs.
"Go in and do what you have to do," the report quotes Thomas as saying.
Thomas questions the reason why police went to his bar in the first place. He said he talked to several people who live near the bar, and no one said they heard gunshots before police arrived.
"The reason I think they were there is because they saw a hoard of young black guys hanging out in front of the bar," Thomas said. "That's speculation on my part, and I'm not trying to spin anything. I'm a city employee, too, and I know what the police are up against.
"But not one person said to me that they heard gunfire. I'm still glad police were there and took these drugs off the street."
Thomas also said he has told police in the past to disperse people who stand in front of his club.
The ABCA recorded one violation at the club on May 12, 2005. It was the club's only violation since its alcohol license was issued July 8, 1998, according to the ABCA's Web site.
If Felinton declares the bar a public nuisance, Thomas would be entitled to a public hearing. The city's legal department also would gather data from Cabell County 911 and local law enforcement agencies to determine any increase in emergency response calls to the bar.
"We've discussed (closing the bar) a little bit in the past. Not just that place, but other places in the city as well," Felinton said.
Thomas said he doesn't blame Felinton or the ABCA if they try to close his bar.
"All I ask is they be fair and equitable about it and take a look at other bars in this town as well," he said. "There are a lot of places that have many more calls regarding shootings and other kinds of trouble."
Thomas already owns Tudor's Biscuit World on 20th Street and is co-owner of Ujamma's, a small grocery store on the corner of 12th Avenue and 18th Street.
"I'm one of a few minority business owners in Huntington, and I cherish that role," said Thomas, who is black. "But I feel like my community has slapped me in the face with what was pulled out of my bar Wednesday night."
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