Trendy Nightclub Under Harsh Spotlight : Shootings: The slaying of two black patrons, allegedly by a doorman, has added protests and police investigations to neighbors’ complaints. The owners call the charges unfair and deny race bias.

For a Hollywood minute, the Blak and Bloo nightclub on Sunset Boulevard was the place to be.

Its Boogie Lounge was considered among the outstanding alternative clubs in Los Angeles, a Thursday night mecca for those seeking a heavy bass beat. Actor Sylvester Stallone once displayed his paintings there. His brother, Frank, held an interest in the place.

But in recent weeks the Blak and Bloo, an aspiring after-dark haven for the hip and famous in Hollywood, has attracted protesters and investigators, raising questions about whether it will survive.

Although Blak and Bloo, like most of the city’s offbeat nightspots, has weathered complaints from neighbors about noise and alleged drug use by patrons, the club’s current problem goes much deeper: last November, according to police, the Blak and Bloo’s doorman allegedly murdered two unarmed African-American customers on the sidewalk in front of the club.

In recent interviews, police and prosecutors revealed little of their case against Roman Paul Luisi, who is accused of shooting Eric Pierce, 25, of Los Angeles and Adrian Thames, 23, of Inglewood.

But an early police account of the incident said the two slain patrons had left the club after an argument with some men inside. When the pair returned about 10 minutes later, according to police, they were confronted by a gunman in dark clothing who shot them both.

Luisi was arrested two days later after police staked out a residence he frequented.

Beyond the police probe, the shooting also has triggered investigations by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control agency and City Council President John Ferraro’s office.

Although Blak and Bloo owners contend that the club is unfairly under attack because of the deaths of Pierce and Thames, its critics say the club should have been closed long ago. Some contend that it has been a noisy nuisance since its opening in 1989, and others allege that employees there have a history of anti-black bias, culminating in the two shootings.

Defense attorney Anthony Brooklier, an investor in the club who is representing Luisi, refused to discuss the case in detail other than to deny that racial prejudice led to the killings. “This is a club where we are just trying to have fun and make money,” Brooklier said. “We’re colorblind.”

As for his client, Brooklier says he came to Los Angeles from Boston two years ago and has never been in trouble before.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Carter, the prosecutor assigned to the case, also refused to discuss the slayings in detail. “It is not my habit,” he said, “to discuss cases before they are presented.” He would say only that the doorman has been charged on two counts of murder with special circumstances, a designation that could lead to the death penalty. He is being held without bail.

The loudest and most direct attack so far on Blak and Bloo has come from enraged South Los Angeles activists, who recently began picketing the club and succeeded in closing it for two weeks.

“Everybody sees (the picketing) as a potential for another problem and we want to avoid that,” Brooklier said of the temporary closure.

The demonstrations have been organized by Mike Gipson, a 26-year-old union worker. Several activist ministers from the South-Central section of the city have also been involved in the protests.

Gipson, who had never visited the club, said he became outraged after reading about the shootings in local papers. He gathered friends and acquaintances, had flyers and picket signs printed and demonstrated in front of the club on three consecutive nights last month.

He contends that at times there were as many as 150 pickets at the site, but observers said there were never more than 25, including some whites and Asian-Americans.

Gipson said he wants to see the club put out of business permanently, not only because of the killings of Pierce and Thames, but also because of what he alleges is a history of hostility toward black people.

“I want to make sure things like this don’t go unnoticed,” Gipson said. “This type of business establishment just can’t go on.”

Gipson said that, although he had not personally visited Blak and Bloo before the shootings, he has interviewed several patrons who contend that the club’s security people and doormen are often discourteous to blacks. Gipson said his account of the shootings--which does not always square with the available evidence--also came from others, including a man who was with Thames and Pierce the night they were killed but who hid in a doorway and was not injured.

According to Gipson, Luisi chased Pierce and Thames down and shot them in front of the club as they returned to their cars from a 7-Eleven store half a block away. The two men and their friend had earlier tried to get into the club and had been rebuffed, Gipson said.

He said the witness told him that the Pierce and Thames begged for their lives before they were both shot several times. But Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the coroner’s office, said that each man was shot once in the chest.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carter would not comment on Gipson’s version of the shooting. He did confirm, however, that there was a witness.

Although Blak and Bloo officials deny that the club has been a continuing source of trouble, many neighbors disagree.

“The people (in the area) suffered,” said Shapour Abazari, who works at a liquor store next door. “They could not rest.” He said there had been numerous fights in and around the club and large unruly crowds hanging around outside.

Renee Weitzer, an aide to Ferraro, whose City Council district includes the Blak and Bloo, said she recently began an investigation of the club after Ferraro’s office received “lots of complaints” from neighbors.

The slayings of Pierce and Thames, she said, did not spark the complaints but did give them impetus.

The complaints centered on noise, parking problems and alleged drug dealing and prostitution, she said. The matter is scheduled to be discussed later this month at a meeting of homeowners, police and representatives of Ferraro’s office, Weitzer said.

The shootings also were not the first time a club employee had been accused of violence against a patron.

The club’s liquor license was recently suspended for 10 days, stemming partly from an incident in the fall of 1991 in which a club employee was arrested for interfering with a police investigation, according to a state Alcoholic Beverages Control official.

That investigation centered on allegations that a security officer at the club had assaulted a patron, according to ABC official Randall Richardson. The state, he said, also fined the club for that incident.

The club was cited in 1992, Richardson said, after undercover police officers watched a bartender illegally serve drinks to an obviously intoxicated patron.

Richardson said the shootings of Pierce and Thames has prompted a new investigation.

“What we’re concerned about is the involvement of any employee in any violence there,” Richardson said. “We anticipate some kind of disciplinary action.”

Times staff member Laura Galloway contributed to this report.