Name: Sheriff Leon Lott shuts down My Place Bar, declares it public nuisance
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Sheriff Leon Lott shuts down My Place Bar, declares it public nuisance

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Sheriff Leon Lott has closed down a bar because he says his deputies have responded to 26 calls, including fights and shootings, related to the business over the past year.My Place, also known as Club Blaze, is on Claudia Drive, off Parklane Road near Two Notch Road, right by the Columbia Place Mall in northeast Richland County.Lott says residents and business owners in the area have been complaining about the club for years.Thursday afternoon, he and his deputies put chains and a lock on the front door, as well as a sign declaring the business a public nuisance.“There’s nothing wrong with going to a club and having a good time,” Lott said. “There’s something wrong with going to a club where the community is getting bullets that are coming into their homes, where people are getting robbed in the parking lot, where people are getting shot at. There’s something wrong with that, and as the sheriff, I can’t allow that to happen.”Lott says the final straw for him happened July 5, when he says a woman who lives nearby discovered two bullet holes in the headboard of her bed after calling police about gunfire coming from the business.“There is no doubt in my mind that this community feels safer. Once this place is closed down, and they can sleep on the weekends and not worry about bullets coming into their house when they’re sleeping,” Lott said. “This community has screamed loud and clear about what they wanted to happen, and that’s this place closed down.”The manager of My Place says the violence is coming from outside of the club and that he’s asked police to help them control the crowds lingering in the area.“The deputies that were here, I’ve spoken to them on multiple occasions, and I’m like if you just ride through more often, you can get rid of the kids hanging out here, and we won’t have the issues,” the manager, who did not want to be named, said. “Once you leave off of this property, there’s nothing I can do. If they’re over at that gas station or over at this bank, they don’t understand I can’t do anything about it because it’s out of my jurisdiction.”Lott says he’s talked with the club’s owner and management several times, but the violence has continued.Sunday, August 23, deputies were called to My Place for reports of gunshots. They say they watched people running from the building screaming.The club has also recently been cited by SLED for breaking the governor’s executive order to stop serving alcohol after 11 p.m.Several county leaders have praised Lott’s decision to close the business.“We’ve given them the opportunity to make things right time after time and yet this criminal activity has continued,” Lott said. “No more. It ends today.”NOW: Sheriff Leon Lott puts chains and a closure notice on the doors of My Place on Claudia Drive in Richland County declaring the business a public nuisance. has responded to the business 26 times over the last year for shootings, assaults and fights. — Caroline Coleburn (@CColeburnTV)The sheriff is empowered by a Richland County ordinance that allows him to shut down businesses he declares to be a public nuisance. He did talk to Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown, who Lott says agrees with the decision.This is the second time Lott has closed a club under this ordinance. .My Place’s owner can appeal the business closure to the Richland County Council.The following was provided by RCSD, as their record of violence at My Place since October 2019: by on ScribdCopyright 2020 WIS. All rights reserved.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Sheriff Leon Lott has closed down a bar because he says his deputies have responded to 26 calls, including fights and shootings, related to the business over the past year.My Place, also known as Club Blaze, is on Claudia Drive, off Parklane Road near Two Notch Road, right by the Columbia Place Mall in northeast Richland County.Lott says residents and business owners in the area have been complaining about the club for years.Thursday afternoon, he and his deputies put chains and a lock on the front door, as well as a sign declaring the business a public...

Sheriff Leon Lott shuts down My Place Bar, declares it public nuisance

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