Mayor Kapszukiewicz pledges to shut down after-hours clubs

Jul. 20—The after-hours club where a 41-year-old woman was shot and killed over the weekend was boarded up Tuesday morning as Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz announced a renewed effort to shut down illegal bars.

Toledo police responded to a call of a person shot at the illegal club at 5205 Telegraph Rd. just before 4:30 a.m. Sunday and found Carthrice Warren, 41, and Wilbur Hughes, 31, inside of the building, each suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Both were transported to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center, where Ms. Warren was pronounced dead.

Police said two other people were shot at the club and transported to local hospitals by private vehicle.

The city was granted a court order to padlock the establishment on Monday, and on Tuesday the wooden boards went up.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz stood in front of the red and grey building with a sign listing the seven after-hours establishments known to Toledo police, including the Telegraph location. He said officers are monitoring the other six locations, which include 930 Hamilton St., 3325 Elm St., 613 Magnolia St., 3413 Monroe St., 5742 Telegraph, and 1034 W. Sylvania Ave.

"We know who you are. We know where your establishment is. And we are ready to throw the weight of the city at you to take your property," he said.

Theresa Morris, the Toledo council member who represents District 6 where the bar is located, said the illegal clubs don't have liquor licenses or occupancy permits, and they haven't been inspected by code enforcement or the fire department. But beyond health and safety issues, she has concerns about crime.

"We know these clubs only breed illegal activity. We're talking drugs, we're talking sexual trafficking, and murder," she said. "Now there's a 41-year-old woman's family who mourns her death at the hands of a greedy and unprincipled operator."

This isn't the first time the city has cracked down on the unlawful establishments. In December, 2020, city officials padlocked 1326 Kelsey Ave., and the Code Enforcement Response Team identified seven other properties throughout the city believed to be illegally serving alcohol into the early morning hours.

Five of those properties were on the mayor's list on Tuesday, seven months later.

Ms. Morris said city leaders need to enforce the law and shut the illegal operations down. In the case of the Telegraph Road bar, law enforcement raided it recently and ordered it closed, Ms. Morris said, but the operator opened it back up for business anyway. After Ms. Warren's death, city lawyers asked the courts to order it closed.

"The city needs to stop these unsavory characters who snub their nose at the city. We are looking at every angle to clean up this city," Ms. Morris said.

Toledo Police Chief George Kral said he often gets asked why officers don't shut down the clubs as soon as they've identified their locations.

"If they opened every night, it would be much easier. But these maybe open once every three weeks, and they often move to different locations," he said. "Our field operations crews know where the after-hours bars are and they keep an eye on them."

The chief also called on residents to alert police to after-hours bar activity so officers can address situations before they turn tragic.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz said after-hours clubs have been around Toledo for years, but law enforcement officials have noticed an uptick in popularity over the last 18 months.

"As bars and taverns and restaurants became difficult, if not impossible, to congregate in during COVID, people began to look for other ways to gather," the mayor said.

Anyone with information regarding an after-hours club can call Engage Toledo at 419-936-2020 or 911 for emergencies.