Photo Caption: LAX Gentleman's Club at 2216 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Greensboro.
GREENSBORO — Police are continuing their investigation into a shooting at a strip club earlier this month, and they have filed charges against the former manager, who they say refused to help the victim, mopped up the crime scene and refused to cooperate in their investigation.
But an attorney for Rocco Scarfone, part owner of the club, says management has cooperated in the investigation and police allegations are not supported by surveillance video.
On Wednesday, police filed charges against 29-year-old Quinton Jones, the former manager of the LAX Gentlemen’s Club at 2216 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, in connection with the alleged cover-up of a shooting there.
Police said that on Nov. 7, 23-year-old Demmetre Fox was shot in the club’s parking lot after club security broke up a fight inside the establishment.
Both parties had been escorted outside, when police believe Leroy Copney Jr., 37, pulled a handgun and shot Fox multiple times.
Copney was arrested Friday and is charged with attempted first-degree murder. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
On Saturday, the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Commission suspended LAX’s alcohol license after receiving sworn affidavits from law enforcement that Jones attempted to cover up the crime scene.
According to the affidavits:
Authorities say that witnesses told them that when the shooting occurred, the club’s management refused to call 911 for an ambulance and told Fox’s friend that he would have to drive him to the hospital.
He did so and met an off-duty police officer at Moses Cone Hospital, whom he told about the shooting at LAX.
One of the first officers who arrived said he found a crime scene behind the club with blood smears on a car and wet spots on the ground that smelled of bleach.
He said he spoke with club security, who said they knew nothing about a shooting or about bleach being used to clean up a crime scene.
The officer said he then spoke with Jones, who said there was an altercation but refused to provide further information. The officer said Jones smelled like bleach, according to the affidavit.
The lead investigator on the case, Greensboro police Cpl. H. Pate, said he reviewed seized video from the club that showed security escorting several people into the lot.
Club security watched the individuals in the parking lot, and when shots were fired, he said, they can be seen running back into the club.
A few minutes later, he said, security can be seen back outside of the club with Jones. They have a short conversation and go back inside.
“Security returns outside with buckets and mops and starts cleaning up the crime scene,” Pate wrote.
The affidavits also state that Jones denied that the club had working surveillance cameras.
Jones, of 3700 Laurel Bluff Circle in High Point, was charged with misdemeanor resisting a public officer and was given a written promise to appear in court.
Amiel Rossabi, Scarfone’s attorney, said Jones has been fired for “errors in judgment” but denied allegations that the manager and others cleaned up a crime scene or hindered a police investigation. Jones did not return a message seeking comment.
“There is no video of a clean-up taking place,” Rossabi said.
“We refer everyone to the video, and the allegations are not supported by the video.”
Rossabi said that police never had to seize a tape of the incident but were given one by Scarfone, who immediately handed it over after learning about the incident.
Rossabi said that the day of the shooting, he coordinated police interviews with Jones and security personnel at the club.
“All day Sunday, I was bringing in employees to help with the investigation,” Rossabi said. He also denied that anyone refused to dial 911.
Police Chief Ken Miller said that the video supports the accounts in the affidavits.
“What happens is that one point in the video, you see individuals carrying pails of water out and a mop going out that way,” Miller said.
“Our crime scene was destroyed with water and bleach.”
Miller said that Rossabi did help coordinate interviews with club personnel but would not let them speak with detectives about obliterating a crime scene
“Obviously, they are invoking their Fifth Amendment rights,” Miller said. “It wasn’t full-blown cooperation.”
In addition to the incidents surrounding the shooting, the ABC Commission cited 44 police calls to the club since February, some regarding shootings or stabbings, as additional reasons for suspending the alcohol license.
A full breakdown of those numbers was not available Monday from Greensboro police.
However, Rossabi said that police were only called 33 times, with the majority being for minor disturbances. He said the club also is appealing the suspension of its alcohol license.
Miller said an investigation regarding the shooting is ongoing but added it is possible he may recommend the city take legal action to have LAX shut down permanently as a public nuisance.
Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com
GREENSBORO — The ABC permits have been suspended for a Greensboro club where a shooting occurred earlier this month.
In documents provided Sunday by Greensboro police, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission stated it has suspended the permits for LAX Gentleman's Club, where the shooting happened Nov. 7.
A fight occurred inside the club, and security escorted the people involved outside. At some point, one of them pulled out a gun and shot another man.
In the documents, authorities allege that workers at the club refused to call 911 and told a friend of the wounded man that he would have to take him to the hospital. Police learned of the shooting when the man was brought to the hospital.
When officers went to the club, they were told by the club's night manager, Quinton Jones, that no fight or shooting had occurred, according to the documents. Police later reviewed the club's video surveillance system - after first being told that it didn't work - and determined that club workers had attempted to clean up the crime scene with bleach, according to the documents.
Leroy Starr Copney Jr., 37, of 801 Moultrie Ct. Apt. D, has been charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of 23-year-old Demettere Myja Fox.
The club is part-owned by Rocco Scarfone, whose establishments have recently come under scrutiny.
Photo Caption: A privacy fence in October beside the Bare Villa club, previously known as Sugar Bare Lost Dimensions.
GREENSBORO — The city has settled its public nuisance lawsuit filed against a strip club and bar complex.
The lawsuit centered on a nightclub at 510 Farragut St. The nightclub used various names over the past eight years, including Sugar Bares, Lost Dimensions and Nikita’s.
The city filed a lawsuit in January that included statements from undercover officers who said they witnessed dancers openly engaging in and soliciting prostitution during a seven-month investigation of the club last year.
The city also alleged the club has been the site of many criminal investigations, including two homicides and numerous 911 calls since 2001.
In the settlement, the defendants admitted no wrongdoing.
Darryl McCarroll, the operator of the business, has agreed to close the business and not operate a bar or sexually-oriented business in Guilford County in the future, according to a news release from the city.
Land owner Clarence Ray Jernigan has agreed to not allow a sexually-oriented business to operate on his property for the next seven years.
Photo Caption: A privacy fence in October beside the Bare Villa club, previously known as Sugar Bare Lost Dimensions.
GREENSBORO – Lawyers are negotiating a possible settlement in the city’s case against a strip club and bar complex targeted for closure as a nuisance.
Attorneys for both the city and for Darryl McCarroll, owner of Bare Villa and Nakitas Playhouse, and Clarence Jernigan, owner of the building at 512 Farragut St., discussed a possible settlement this morning in Guilford County Superior Court.
Among the proposals are stipulations that McCarroll would not operate a sexually oriented business or bar in Guilford County and Jernigan wouldn’t allow another sexually oriented business to operate at the property.
Attorneys said an agreement was in place as recently as last week, but they have since had problems agreeing on specific terms such as possible time limitations on the bans and whether the city would support another business obtaining an ABC permit to serve alcohol on Jernigan’s property.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Spivey has allowed both sides to continue their negotiations throughout the day to reach a tentative agreement and avoid a jury trial.
But if an agreement is reached, it must be approved by the City Council, and the city’s lawyers said it would be difficult to get such an approval at tonight’s council meeting.
Jernigan’s lawyer said his client is concerned about waiting until May for the council’s approval, citing a desire to obtain a new tenant at the location.
The city filed a lawsuit in January that included statements from undercover officers who said they witnessed dancers openly engaging in and soliciting prostitution during a seven-month investigation of the club last year.
The city also alleges the club has also been the site of many criminal investigations, including two homicides and numerous 911 calls since 2001.
State law allows municipalities to take civil action to close businesses that are deemed a public nuisance.
