INDIANAPOLIS– In an attempt to keep Indianapolis residents safe from the ravages of COVID-19, in September Mayor Joe Hogsett and Marion County Public Health Director Dr. Virginia Caine mandated that bars in Marion County close at midnight.
Recent shootings and assaults, and more than two dozen police citation referrals later, it’s obvious not all of Indianapolis’ bars are following those rules as some bar owners argue they’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenues and may go out of business.
This past weekend, a woman reported she was assaulted inside a bar in the 200 block of South Meridian Street at 1:45 a.m., one week after two men were shot on the sidewalk on the same area at 2 a.m.
Each case occurred after those downtown bars should have shut their doors at midnight.
“The police reports will speak for themselves,” said IMPD Lt. Bill Carter who estimates he has written up as many as 30 bars for after-hours violations since the MCPHD order was issued. “If we go there at 1:20 and there’s two people shot on the sidewalk, well, obviously they couldn’t have closed at midnight if those people are shot at 1:20.”
A CBS4 News photographer shot video of many patrons spilling onto the street between two and three a.m. after a night at downtown bars this past weekend.
“I send those reports to the health department. I do know they have filed a legal case on one of those bars down there,” said Carter. “We’ve had a lot of activity downtown, those locations, we’ve done sweeps down there, usually if we’re down there we’re doing sweeps then we notice that at midnight they suddenly close at midnight as they’re supposed to do.”
One downtown bar owner, who didn’t want to be identified, told CBS4 News that his business has suffered as a result of following the rules while neighboring bars do not.
As part of a lawsuit filed by bar owners against the City and the Health Department, several bars claimed they have lost six figure revenues and are in danger of shutting down completely because of COVID-19 restrictions.
In court documents filed last month, the owners of Tiki Bob’s and INVY Nightclub claim both bars lost $1.5 million apiece as the result of MCPHD orders.
Coaches Tavern reported $500,000 in losses, two Whiskey Business locations suffered a total of $831,000 in losses, business at Basey’s is off $450,000, the Average Joe’s family of bars in Broad Ripple reports $735,000 in losses, sales at Courtside Convenience are down $900,000 and Joe’s Grille Castleton claims a sales downturn of $600,000.
But one man’s setback is another man’s opportunity in the Indy bar business, according to Lt. Carter.
“Some of the businesses are closing at midnight because of the COVID order, but what we are also finding out is that some locations are opening at midnight to partake in all the people leaving the bars that are closing within the guidelines are going to the other locations that are open at midnight,” said Carter. “And I will tell you 95% of those locations are not licensed at all.”
Such was the case in the 5400 block of Massachusetts Avenue in mid-August when three people were shot to death at an illegal after-hours bar that was shut down after the building’s owner evicted the operators.
Carter said that a northwest side bar where IMPD officers shot an armed man in the parking lot after midnight in November was cited for violating the health department closure rule.
When asked for statistics on its issuance of violation notices and whether inspectors would be out over the weekend monitoring downtown bar activity, MCPHD issued the following statement:
“MCPHD continues to seek compliance and investigates complaints related to the public health order whenever possible using available resources.
“Businesses that are found to be out of compliance of the public health order will receive a notice of violation and the matter will be filed for court seeking a $1000 fine.
“MCPHD anticipates issuing notices of violation related to the public health order for establishments in Marion County from over the weekend, but it takes some time to process the paperwork and issue them.”
Carter said he has heard bar owners are willing the risk the uncertainty of being fined in pursuit of post-midnight revenues while continuing their lawsuit against the health department’s authority to issue closure rules.
“Some of those bars have very high occupancy levels in there anyway,” he said, “so I agree that a thousand dollars isn’t enough really that’s going to break them.”
Carter said his only option may be to document violations and raise those issues at liquor license renewal hearings.
With just a week before New Year’s Eve, MCPHD has given no indication whether it will relax bar closing hours for revelers wanting to say goodbye to 2020 and ring in 2021.