Petition drive targets club’s liquor license

The movement began only days after 29-year-old Suitland resident Travis Lashawn Robinson was shot and killed Jan. 28 outside the nightclub, located in the Crystal Plaza shopping center. Two other men were killed just outside the nightclub in April 2005 and 2006. All were killed in the early morning hours.

‘‘Both the Liquor Control Board and the community have been more than fair in dealing with this ongoing danger, and it is time to put a stop to it,” Kendra Wagner, president of the Montpelier Homeowners Association, said in a letter she was submitting to the license board. The Montpelier community is less than a mile from the nightclub.

Phone messages left at the club were not returned by press time.

Garold Stone, a former president of the Montpelier Hills Homeowners Association who publishes a blog on South Laurel issues, said residents are also appealing to elected officials for help.

‘‘J’s Sports Café’s county-mandated security plan failed when several security guards hired by the café were on the scene but were unable to prevent this third shooting death,” Stone said Stone.

Soon after the shooting, co-owner Alex Kim said the club plans to starting hosting more jazz and rhythm and blues groups that cater to mature crowds. Go-go music performances have been a staple at J’s.

However, Wagner said the club doesn’t deserve any more chances and should be closed down, no matter what.

‘‘I think three dead people is more than enough chances for me,” she said.

Kim and Deok Ju Lee purchased J’s from Crystal Plaza Restaurant Inc. last October. The Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners, which administers and enforces alcoholic beverage laws, approved the transfer of the club’s liquor license to the new owners on the condition they follow an entertainment and security plan approved by the board.

On Saturday nights, that plan requires three marked Prince George’s County police cars to be stationed outside the nightclub and eight to 10 in-house security staff to be working inside. Two of those security staff must be posted in front of the establishment during closing.

The Jan. 28 shooting occurred outside the club right around the 3 a.m. closing time, police said.

According to police, Robinson was shot once in the upper body during a fight involving about 25 people. Off-duty county officers were close enough to hear the gunshot and administered first aid to Robinson, who died hours later at a local hospital. Kim said there were no signs of trouble inside the club.

The license board on Wednesday was scheduled to hear the results of inspectors’ investigation into the shooting. County police late last week were still seeking suspects in Robinson’s death.

Del. Gerron Levi (D-Dist. 23A) of Mitchellville, whose district includes the section of South Laurel where J’s is located, said she has heard ‘‘collective outrage” from her constituents.

‘‘I am working with my colleagues to find out what options we might pursue with the liquor board and code enforcement,” Levi said. ‘‘We’re taking it very, very seriously.”

E-mail Steve Earley at searley@gazette.net.