Fighting problem bars a big endeavor

Shootings, fights and noise are all served with the beer at one Pike Township bar, said neighborhood groups who are trying to close it down.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers and Pike Township residents have been fighting the license renewal at a Hookah Lounge Cali Bugaloo at 86th and Michigan for two years. Police said the bar serves alcohol to underage patrons. They presented video of a 17-year-old girl dancing on a table as proof. The bar was cited after police learned the young dancer's age.

Just months after that incident, police were at the bar again in response to a 911 call. An employee said there had been a shooting at the bar. But when police arrived, bar owner Gladys Botina claimed nothing had happened. Later that night, police found a 19-year-old at a hospital who had been shot - allegedly inside the Hookah Lounge.

"The location itself creates a drain on resources for IMPD. It's also a nuisance to the neighborhood," said Sergeant William Carter, an IMPD detective in the criminal investigations/ nuisance abatement division.

The Alcoholic Beverage Board of Marion County denied Botina's efforts to renew her alcohol license. She's still fighting that decision.

So it was a surprise to find Botina at Friday's alcohol auction, buying another permit that will allow her to add liquor to her current beer and wine sales at the bar. Asked how she responds to those who call her bar a nuisance she said: "They’re totally wrong. I'm paying my taxes."

It takes little more than being a tax-paying citizen and completing a form to buy an alcohol license. That's why it's largely up to neighborhood groups to fight problem bars at local Alcoholic Beverage Board meetings.

Leaders with Drug Free Marion County help neighborhood and community groups with the process.

"I would say we've won about five out of 100 cases in the last year," said Nancy Beals, project coordinator of Drug Free Marion County.

She said the reason it's so difficult to fight a problem bar's permit is because neighborhood groups have to prove they really represent their neighborhood. That means collecting lots of signatures. You usually have less than two weeks to get organized, so understanding the process is crucial.

The group provides a guide to help with the process, which you can view here .