Attempted Murder at De Real 'Ting Cafe

[Jerry Moran]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml1flo6HXP8

[jbm32206]

That place should've been closed down a long time ago...it's nothing but trouble!

[big ben]

i thought something was actually going to happen in that video.

[comncense]

Whether someone got shot or not, things there are out of hand. I'm all for a variety of different types of clubs that attract all kinds of people, but I do not want to hear people shouting outside of a club and music blasting till 4:30 in the morning. If there are cops over there every weekend when Da Real Ting lets out, they definitely aren't doing anything. Da Real Ting is the primary reason I'm thinking about breaking my lease at The Carling...

[DetroitInJAX]

That place is a serious threat to the safety of the public and at the very least a disturbance of the peace.  It should be shut down or made to close by Midnight at the latest.

[Dapperdan]

As much as we want it to shut down, it is a independant business. You can't just go around shutting down businesses you disagree with. We live a free economic market.. let the market decide what happens here, or let them hire more cops.

[jbm32206]

That's all well and good about free economic market, and as long as this place stays open to such hours, the patrons will be spilling out onto the streets raising hell in the wee hours of the morning. As long as they are outside, why would the owners care, because then they're off their property. They're not the ones dealing with a rowdy crowd in an otherwise peaceful area.

[Jerry Moran]

Addresses & phone numbers are editied out.

   On 09/08/07, at 0200, while en-route to an off-duty job at 128 W. Adams Street, Da Real Ting Café, I was advised to respond to 655 W. 8th Street, Shands Hospital, to follow up on the investigation of two people being shot at the club.  Upon my arrival, I made contact with victim Gordon Stavis in the emergency room.  Victim Stavis was being treated for a gunshot wound to his right foot.  When asked what happened, victim Stavis stated he was inside the crowded club dancing like everyone else when a fight broke out between two patrons.  Victim Stavis stated the two subjects who were fighting were both black males.  Victim Stavis described one of the subjects as approximately 5'-9", 170lbs., brown skin, with a mini afro, and wearing an orange shirt and plaid shorts and approximately 19yrs old.  Victim Stavis stated the other subject was 5'-4", 150lbs., dark skin, and possibly a low hair cut, wearing blue jean shorts, a white t-shirt and approximately 20yrs of age.  Victim Stavis stated the two subjects were fighting on the floor when "one of their homeboys pulled out a gun and started shooting.   Victim Stavis stated he heard two shots, and saw blood which splashed on him coming from the female victim's leg.  Victim Stavis stated he started backing up trying to get out of the way like everyone else and then realized he'd been shot in his right foot.  Mr. Stavis stated he never saw the suspect who was doing the shooting.  Victim Stavis stated he did not know the subjects who were fighting and he did not know the suspect who did the shooting.
     After interviewing victim Stavis I responded to the pediatric emergency room and interviewed victim Jessica Lynn Sarver.  Victim Sarver was being treated for a gunshot wound to her left foot.  According to victim Sarver, she was dancing in the club when a fight broke out between two subjects.  Victim Sarver stated while the subjects were fighting on the floor, the suspect started shooting and was aiming towards the ground where the two subjects were fighting.  Victim Sarver stated she tried to get out of the way like everyone else but was shot in her left foot.  Victim Sarver stated her back was turn to the suspect so she was not able to provide a suspect description. 
     While interviewing victim Sarver, witness Kendra Rachelle Davis chimed in and described the suspect as a black male, approximately 5'-6", 150lbs., dark skin, with short dreadlocks and a little ponytail hairstyle, wearing a white t-shirt, light blue jeans and approximately 19-21 yrs of age.  Witness Davis stated the suspect pulled a black .22 caliber pistol out of his right front pants pocket and started shooting towards the boys on the ground fighting.  Witness Davis stated the suspect was shooting at a boy named Jeremy who was one of the two subjects fighting.  Witness Davis stated she knows Jeremy because he attended Ed White High School with her and victim Sarver in 2005.  Witness Davis and victim Sarver stated they did not know Jeremy's last name or anyone who did.  When asked if she had a yearbook from that year in high school, witness Davis stated no and she further stated that Jeremy did not take a picture for the yearbook.  Witness Davis stated she the suspect fired four to five shots during the melee.  Both victims wounds were none life threatening.
     Because she was being treated in the pediatric emergency room, victim Sarver was asked how old she was and she stated seventeen.  When asked how she got into the club being only seventeen, victim Sarver stated she used her cousin's identification, her cousin that is eighteen and whom she resembles.  Victim Saver stated her cousin's name is Tashara Brown.  When told to surrender the identification to police, victim Sarver stated she no longer had it, and that she lost it during the ruckus inside the club.  In addition to witness Davis who is eighteen, victim Sarver was accompanied at the club by another friend, Latonia Danielle Carswell, b/f, 04/19/86.  Subject Carswell was asked if she knew victim Sarver was only seventeen before they went to the club and she stated yes.  Subject Carswell admitted to facilitating victim Sarver's illegal entry into the club with false identification by not saying anything as they were admitted to the club.  When asked if she knew what she'd done was wrong and illegal, subject Carswell stated she did but they just wanted to celebrate witness Davis' birthday and was not trying to cause any trouble.  When asked if she too knew victim Sarver was only seventeen and used false credentials to gain access into the club, witness Davis stated she did.  When asked if she knew it was not only wrong but illegal, witness Davis stated she did.  Victim Sarver also admitted that she knew she was not old enough to be in the club, and that is why she borrowed her cousin's identification and deliberately passed it off as hers.
     An evidence technician responded to the hospital to photograph the injury of the victims.  Sgt. L.D. Kitchen, 6527, also responded to the scene and questioned victim Sarver, witness Davis and subject Carswell about victim Sarver being underage in the club and the ruse they engaged in to facilitate her entry. 
     Victim Sarver stated her stepmother, Michelle Carol, was en-route to the hospital as police were concluding their investigation.  Sgt. L.D. Kitchen, 6527, provided victim Sarver with a contact number for her stepmother to contact him with any questions or concerns. 
     As of this reporting time, no additional information as to the suspect's identity has been developed. 
Case not cleared, patrol efforts suspended.

[big ben]

That place is a serious threat to the safety of the public and at the very least a disturbance of the peace.  It should be shut down or made to close by Midnight at the latest.

i don't think we need to start a precedence of shutting places down at midnight.  we might very well kill off the downtown nightlife before it gets very far.  i wouldn't be against shutting the place down permanently, but not cutting it's hours back. 

this problem needs to be stopped by enforcement.  enforce noise codes.  perhaps try to catch them letting in someone under 18 or someone drinking under 21, although that would be hard since they probably actually check ID and everyone is using fakes.  alright, i'm not a law enforcement person, but i don't want to see hours cut back.

[thelakelander]

Anyway to get the cafe relocated to Bay Street or some other area with bars and nightclubs operating in the same area?  Security would probably be better if it was along with other compatible uses, plus it would add a little diversity to the Bay Street scene.

[comncense]

Heh, I vote for shutting it down. I seriously doubt people at the Berkman complain about people being loud coming out of Dive Bar and Mark's at 2am. But then again I guess you have to factor in that it's a completely different age group. I think all the kiddie clubs downtown should stick to the Landing personally...

[thelakelander]

The entertainment district officially stretches from Main to Liberty along Bay.  Depending on the location, Berkman would be a non-factor.  As for a true club district, similar to a Ybor (Tampa), the Flats (Cleveland) or a Deep Ellum (Dallas) its probably best if it were located on the outskirts of downtown. 

[midnightblackrx]

Anyway to get the cafe relocated to Bay Street ... it would add a little diversity to the Bay Street scene.

If diversity = underage criminals shooting up a place, I don't want it anywhere near Bay St. Keep it away from people looking for a good time and not a shooting range. 

[thelakelander]

Diversity as in who a bar caters to.  For some reason, it seems the Bay Street is being set up to cater to yuppies, upscale clientele and future tourists, as opposed to a local oriented district where just about anything flies (anything as in uses, themes, architecture, etc.).  Criminals shooting up a place has more to do with a lack of bar security than it does with diversity.

[jbm32206]

I agree, this kind of place isn't what will give life to downtown. I know that I won't go somewhere that's near a place like that...it's a zoo when the crowd starts letting out.