Based on reports of after-hours drinking on the premises, Atlanta police used a crowbar to open a door of a southwest Atlanta bar and searched and detained 10 patrons while officers checked for outstanding warrants, according to a report.
Attorney Dan Grossman wrote the city’s lawyers last month offering to resolve the issue without filing a suit, but Atlanta’s Law Department has not responded, the lawyer said Thursday.
“The unlawful seizure and search of all persons inside the establishment was done pursuant to the same unconstitutional city policy ... revealed during the ‘Atlanta Eagle litigation,'” Grossman wrote in a letter to Eric Richardson at the city’s Law Department.
Richardson did not respond to voice mail or email messages seeking comment Thursday.
APD said in an email: "The Atlanta Police Department is aware of this allegation. The Office of Professional Standards is currently conducting an investigation."
Atlanta taxpayers paid more than $1 million earlier this year to settle a lawsuit brought against the city after police officers raided the Atlanta Eagle bar in Midtown on Sept. 10, 2009. Patrons and Atlanta Eagle employees were detained, some forced to lie on the barroom floor for as long as an hour, while officers checked for criminal histories.
Then early on the morning of May 3, 2010, a Monday, Atlanta police officers raided Ruby’s Sanabella Restaurant and Lounge on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard after learning during a traffic stop that the bar was still open and may have been selling drinks after hours. According to the police incident report, the bar’s neon “Open” sign was still on at 3 a.m. but the doors were locked. Officer C.S. Thornton wrote in a report that he could see people inside drinking.
“I banged on the door several times advising, ‘Atlanta Police,’” Thornton wrote. “No one would respond to the door. This action was continued over a period of (20) twenty minutes. During the course of the ... twenty minutes, the “OPEN” sign was turned off from the inside as well as the lights.”
The report said Thornton activated his blue lights and siren while he waited for more officers to arrive.
The fire department was called "to force entry" when the officers could not persuade the people inside the bar to unlock the doors. "The entry was made swiftly by crowbar and hammer without incident,” according to the incident report.
Everyone inside was detained, searched and their backgrounds checked for criminal warrants or arrests, according to the incident report.
Only the bartender, Carlos Brooks, was arrested. He was taken to the Fulton County Jail on charges of obstruction and selling alcohol on Sunday.
“The Ruby’s raid was conducted in the same way as the Eagle raid,” Grossman wrote in a letter to Richardson. “It is unfortunate that the city wasted tremendous resources defending the unlawful conduct of officers at the Atlanta Eagle, and it would be a shame if the city attempted to defend the same conduct at Ruby’s restaurant. And it would be equally unfortunate if the city sends a message that the rights of African-Americans at Ruby’s are worth less than the rights of gay citizens at the Eagle.”
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