Richmond VA Aug 23 2018 Richmond police on Wednesday arrested a Chesterfield County man in a triple shooting in Shockoe Bottom that has increased concern among business owners and others about sporadic violence in the entertainment district.

Darroll G. Allen, 25, of the 6000 block of Cricklewood Drive, has been charged with malicious wounding and a related firearm charge in connection with the shooting early Wednesday morning outside a nightclub in the Bottom.

Richmond police were summoned at 2:02 a.m. to the report of a shooting outside Plush Restaurant and Lounge in the 1700 block of East Main Street. Officers arrived to find two men and a woman suffering from gunshot wounds. One of the men worked at the club, police said.

All three victims were taken to a hospital. The authorities said that none of the injuries was considered life-threatening.

Juan Braxton, a co-owner of the building that houses the nightclub, said the shooting unfolded after a man was kicked out of the club. He left and came back and then opened fire, wounding an unarmed bouncer who was working at the club and two other people.

Braxton said he doesn’t know why the man was made to leave the club, and he said he didn’t know whether the other two victims were patrons of Plush or passers-by.

“The security officer who got shot, they say he’s doing OK,” Braxton said.

Shortly after the shooting, a bystander provided a description and possible location of the alleged shooter, police said. A patrol K-9 officer was nearby and spotted someone in a car in the 1700 block of East Broad Street matching the description. With the assistance of First Precinct officers, Allen was arrested without incident, police said.

Jim Nolan, a spokesman for Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, issued a statement Wednesday evening expressing concern about the violence.

“Maintaining a safe environment for residents, businesses and their patrons is of paramount concern, and requires the commitment and cooperation of all stakeholders,” Nolan said. “The administration and Richmond Police Department will continue to engage the community, and RPD will continue to maintain a significant presence in the area, avail itself of new technology and work with other regulatory agencies to maintain public safety.”

Agents with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority also are investigating Wednesday’s shooting in conjunction with the Richmond police.

ABC conducts public safety investigations when an act of violence involving death or bodily harm occurs in or near an ABC-licensed establishment, said ABC spokeswoman Dawn Eischen.

 “This is pretty standard operating procedure,” Eischen said of the Plush investigation.

Plush, located at 1708 E. Main St., has ABC licenses for sales of wine and beer and also for mixed beverages.

Under a state law that went into effect July 1, 2016, ABC can temporarily suspend a license if the agency believes there is a continued threat to public safety at the establishment, Eischen said.

No such action had been taken against Plush as of Wednesday evening.

Last month, ABC used the law to temporarily suspend the liquor license held by Infuzion, a restaurant and club in Scott’s Addition. The summary suspension was issued against Infuzion on July 14, the day after four people were shot, one fatally, in a parking lot adjacent to the club portion of the restaurant.

The club ultimately closed after surrendering its license permanently, Eischen said.

Wednesday’s triple shooting in Shockoe Bottom highlighted long-standing concerns of some of the area’s business owners about the violence and the resulting negative perceptions. Many of the incidents over the years — including several homicides — have occurred around the time clubs are letting out after midnight as large crowds pour onto Main Street.

Ryan O’Rourke, owner of Ironclad Coffee Roasters, which opened a coffee shop in the Bottom last month, said he and his wife used to go on nightly walks in the neighborhood pushing their child in a stroller, but would avoid the area where the nightclubs are located.

“We were pretty wary of getting too close to that section because we were keenly aware of what was going on in that section,” he said.

O’Rourke, who also used to drive a taxi and would drop people off and pick them up near the clubs, described “a palpable tension as the clubs would be letting out. It was kind of a powder keg situation.”

O’Rourke’s coffee shop closes at 6 p.m., but he said the perception of trouble keeps some people away from the Bottom.

“This immediate neighborhood, with so much going for it, is being hindered by a few people,” he said.

David Napier, president of the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association, said the police are shutting down the streets on weekend nights to control the crowds outside the clubs. “People can’t come down there — it looks like a crime scene,” he said. “The smaller bars can’t do any business after midnight on weekends,” he said.

“I appreciate the job the police are doing,” Napier added. “They can’t make the changes themselves.”

Napier said police should keep the streets around the clubs open and stop the crowds from gathering in the road. Braxton, the co-owner of the building that houses Plush, agreed that police should enforce the rules on blocking traffic.

“I’d like to see them go to a no-nonsense policy,” Braxton said.

“You shouldn’t be walking down the middle of the street,” he said. “You should follow the cops’ demands, and if you don’t, there should be consequences.”

Braxton also expressed concern about the violence. He said a small number of people are causing problems at hip-hop clubs.

“It only takes one bad apple and an entire culture has to answer for their actions,” Braxton said. “The whole culture gets blamed for the situation.”

Braxton added the operators of Plush are doing the best they can.

The nightclub’s owners could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Requests for comment on the violence in Shockoe Bottom and the city’s approach to public safety in the entertainment district were not returned Wednesday from Police Chief Alfred Durham or Councilwoman Cynthia Newbille, who represents the part of the city that encompasses the Bottom.

Meanwhile, efforts are underway for development in the area.

The city recently rezoned the former Weiman’s Bakery building, about two blocks north of Plush on 17th Street, after a developer presented plans to build a high-rise hotel there.

Work continues as the city rebuilds the 17th Street Farmers’ Market. The project has faced repeated delays.

The city has budgeted about $4 million to complete its “Shockoe Revitalization Strategy Plan.” That figure includes $300,000 this fiscal year for repositioning the market, and site work around Main Street Station — another economic and community development project in Shockoe that cost the city more than $80 million to complete.

Since the start of 2018, there have been 15 aggravated assaults reported in Shockoe Bottom, including a string of shootings and stabbings at clubs. In June, three people were shot — two of them seriously injured — on East Main Street. In May, two men were wounded in a stabbing during a fight at the Canal Club on Cary Street. In January, another stabbing on East Main Street injured two people.

Three people were killed in Shockoe Bottom last year, including two lifelong friends who were shot outside Image, a nightclub across the street from Plush. Two others were shot and killed as they drove along Interstate 95 after getting into an argument in a parking lot in the Bottom.

Last week, two business groups announced that they had purchased six cameras for $30,000 to beef up security in the neighborhood. Several are located on the block where the shooting occurred.

Police declined to comment on whether the cameras captured Wednesday morning’s violence outside Plush.

richmond.com 

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