BURLINGTON — Police Lt. Paul Glynn called on city councilors Tuesday to revoke Zen Lounge’s liquor license citing its history of not cooperating with police and a pattern of violent incidents there.
Zen Lounge, located at 165 Church St., has come under heightened scrutiny following a deadly shooting that allegedly began as a dispute inside the nightclub. Days after the shooting, the chief of police issued a statement sharply critical of Zen Lounge.
The club’s owner, Robert Rapatski, said his staff is taking steps to tighten security and improve communication with police. Rapatski said he’s hopeful that, working with police and city officials, they can find a solution that will allow Zen Lounge to stay open.
Speaking to the City Council subcommittee that issues liquor licenses, Glynn said that on a number of occasions, including during a homicide investigation last year, the police have resorted to search warrants and subpoenas to obtain surveillance video from Zen Lounge.
Rapatski said that many of the issues police had getting video from his nightclub stem from miscommunications and technical issues with his previous recording systems.
Liquor license holders are required to comply with police investigations, and the state Liquor Control Board issued Zen Lounge a $250 fine for hindering the investigation into the shooting death of Kevin DeOliveira last January.
While serving the warrant in the DeOliveira investigation, detectives began to remove the door to the club from its hinges before they were allowed inside, Glynn said.
Glynn, the downtown district commander, said detectives also had issues obtaining video from Rapatski and his staff during the investigation of a stabbing at the nightclub and while investigating a DUI.
License holders are not required to have video surveillance systems, but if they do, police are able to access them for investigations. Glynn said he believes establishments with liquor licenses should be required to have video systems.
A review of court records by the Burlington Free Press found that police issued six subpoenas and two search warrants for Zen Lounge in 2015, while three other downtown nightclubs, Rasputin’s, Nectar’s and Red Square had none.
“I think there needs to be a culture change, and I’m not sure that can happen under the current ownership and management,” Glynn said. Revoking Zen Lounge’s liquor license would send a strong message about what’s expected of license holders, he said.
“It puts everyone in check,” Glynn said. “We’ve seen this before.”
Matt Gonyo, an investigator with the Department of Liquor Control, said he has “grave” concerns about the threat to public safety posed by the nightclub. His department has three open investigations on Zen Lounge, and has cited the bar three times in its two years of operation.
In reviewing 66 cases involving Zen Lounge that the DLC has in its records, Gonyo found issues ranging from customer complaints, aggravated assaults and robberies, overcrowding, fights and other disturbances.
“That’s a significant history” for the two years the club has been open, Gonyo said.
Glynn said Zen Lounge and its staff often won’t comply until the DLC gets involved. He cited the investigation into the Dec. 27 shooting on Church Street. It wasn’t until DLC requested receipts from the night of the shooting that Rapatski and his attorney acknowledged to police that the suspect and the victim may have been at the club prior to the shooting, Glynn said.
That’s a reversal of earlier “adamant” statements Rapatski made to police, according to Glynn.
Tuesday night, Rapatski again told councilors that “it’s not clear (the victim) was in our place.” Speaking afterward, Rapatski’s attorney Andrew Manitsky said “to the best of our knowledge he wasn’t there.”
Manitsky told councilors Tuesday that his client has reached out to police and Gonyo, the DLC investigator, to work on improving compliance and making the club safer. He referred to some of the allegations from police as “innuendo.”
In addition to a new camera system, bouncers are now equipped with metal detection wands on busy nights or after a certain time. The wands are already paying dividends, Rapatski said. On New Year’s, bouncers turned away 10 people with weapons, eight with knives and two with “sidearms.”
Rapatski said he’s also taking steps to change the scene at Zen Lounge. “We’re just not going to book any more hip hop,” he said, before amending that to say some local acts would be allowed. In general, however, hip hop acts and DJs have brought a “somewhat undesirable” crowd or “city element” that isn’t what he wants for the club, Rapatski said.
Councilor Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, said he was disappointed to hear Rapatski place some of the blame on his clientele, adding that he’d hoped the club owner would take greater responsibility for the problems highlighted by police.
The Local Control Subcommittee, which issues Burlington’s liquor licenses, will hold an administrative hearing on whether to place additional conditions on Zen Lounge or possibly revoke its license. That hearing was not scheduled as of press time.
“We have issues of not just miscommunication but lack of cooperation at play here, as well as unclear storylines, and of course the reality of gross violence that’s happened,” said Councilor Adam Roof, I-Ward 8.
