Pawtucket RI police say club security guards disobey orders, stand around watching fights
PAWTUCKET, RI Aug 5 2021— Three downtown nightclubs face disciplinary hearings after police reported violent altercations at two establishments and back-to-back entertainment license violations at a third club that’s already in hot water after a shooting earlier this year.
Police Captain David Holden addressed the Pawtucket Board of License Commissioners on Thursday and requested that disciplinary action be taken against Mangos Restaurant and Lounge, the International Club & Billar and the Vibe Lounge & Hookah Bar.
The commissioners voted to hold hearings for the Vibe Lounge and International Club on Aug. 11 at 6:45 p.m. The Mangos disciplinary hearing will be set for Sept. 8 because of a scheduling conflict.
Holden provided the commissioners with police incident reports from two weekends in July.
Shortly after midnight on July 10, Pawtucket police said a woman dialed 911 and said she was punched in the face by a security guard at the International Club & Billar. The woman said the guard had pepper sprayed both her and her father. The officer spoke with club manager Joshua Guttierez who said around 800 people had attended the club that night. Guttierez said he had hired a private security company, but could not provide police with the company’s name. Guttierez told police the security guard in question quit his post and drove away after the incident with pepper spray in his eyes. The woman was visibly hurt but declined medical treatment, an officer’s affidavit said. Pawtucket detectives are investigating the assault complaint and the victim told police that she does want to pursue charges.
One week later, on July 17, police returned to the nightclub after a crowd leaving the establishment blocked the progress of a police cruiser that was trying to respond to a separate incident. Backup arrived and an officer said he found around 100 patrons inside the club after hours drinking alcoholic beverages. The officer said around 10 security guards were inside the club “doing nothing.” The police officer told the guards to get everyone out of the bar and spoke with club manager Bryon Sicaju, who told police that “the band started late so they finished late,” according to an incident report. Police said they returned to the club after 2 a.m. and still found people inside with drinks in their hands and security guards “just standing around.” All Pawtucket patrol units, with help from Central Falls, managed to clear the premise by 2:20 a.m., the police report said.
Sicaju was cited for operating a bar after hours.
The next night (July 18) police were back at the International Club for reports of a stabbing. While police later determined that no one had been stabbed, they described a large crowd of men fighting in the parking lot of the Bravo Supermarket across the street, some with ripped shirts and blood on their faces and hands. An injured man was found lying on his back behind the nearby Luzitania Bakery, and he was transported to Rhode Island Hospital. The victim told police he had been “jumped” by three people as he left the nightclub, but did not want to pursue charges.
Police said no one from the bar assisted with the situation.
On July 11, around 100 people gathered outside Mangos at closing time with people “fighting in all directions,” yelling at each other, and spinning tires, a police report stated. An officer said he was struck in the jaw by a closed fist as he attempted to break up a fight. It took police a half-hour to clear the group and another 20 minutes to clear people from the parking lot of a nearby Walgreen’s. Pawtucket resident Ricardo Santos Tavares was arrested and charged with assault and battery.
The owner of the club, Alex Quiroz, was on scene and aware of the incident, and was notified that a report would be generated, a police report said. Mangos was cited for disorderly conduct.
On July 16, an officer assigned to the Vibe Lounge said music could be heard coming from the club after 12:30 a.m. in violation of a local ordinance. He said he spoke to a female security guard and told her music must be turned off at 12:30 a.m. She walked away, came back, and informed him that the club turns its music off at 12:50 a.m. The music ended at 12:56 a.m.
On July 17, it happened again, according to police, who said that security guards at the bar walked away from an officer who asked them to turn off the music at 12:30 a.m. Again, the DJ continued until 12:56 a.m.
The owner of the club, Victor Silva, was present at the club during both incidents, Holden said. The nightclub was cited for not complying with city ordinances.
The new alleged violations add to the nightclub’s troubles, because the city is already trying to permanently revoke the venue’s liquor and entertainment licenses.
On April 23 just before 1 a.m., a man was shot outside the bar. Police found a man, 32, with five gunshot wounds lying on the sidewalk near the back entrance of the Vibe Lounge. Responding officers and medics described a chaotic scene and said they were taunted by the crowd as they tried to perform their duties. The shooting victim survived.
Following the shooting, city officials shut the bar pending a May 11 hearing where the local Board of Liquor Commissioners voted 7-0 to revoke the establishment’s liquor and entertainment licenses. Public Safety Director Tina Goncalves declared the Vibe Lounge a “public nuisance” and said there had been a string of violent incidents at the venue.
Two weeks after the board’s emergency hearing, the Vibe Lounge was back in business — albeit with a required 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. police detail and a midnight closing time — after the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation granted a stay requested by a lawyer for bar owners Victor and Leslie Silva, who have appealed their license revocation.
City Council President David Moran, who chairs the Board of License Commissioners, said Monday that the situation is “unacceptable,” and that he believes the venue owners “knew the law” but decided to ignore it. He noted that the three bars are all in the same geographical area.
Update: The state’s Department of Business Regulation on July 13 held a hearing on Vibe Lounge appeal, but a decision has yet to be issued, Capt. Holden told Patch. Holden also said that state regulators on June 22 agreed to let the Vibe Lounge stay open until 1 a.m. while their appeal is pending.
An inquiry to the DBR’s Division of Commercial Licensing and Regulation was not immediately returned on Tuesday morning.
