Newport Police Hope to Close Bacchus Nightclub : Disturbances: Revocation of permit will be sought in wake of weekend brawl, latest in a series of problems.

The Police Department to will try to shut down a nightclub where a melee last week was the latest in a “litany” of problems over the past six months, the police chief said Monday.

Police Chief Robert J. McDonell said the Bacchus nightclub on Lido Peninsula “gets top billing” as the city’s most troublesome nightclub, especially after a brawl early Friday outside Bacchus and the Warehouse Restaurant. Police arrested four people, but three of them escaped--one still wearing handcuffs--from an unlocked patrol car.

“Basically there’s a problem with a lack of control, and it’s the responsibility of the management,” McDonell said.

The club’s owners said Monday that they will do “whatever it takes” to remain open.

Friday’s trouble camenear closing time, about 2 a.m., police Sgt. Andy Gonis said. About 30 people were entangled in a huge fight on the street, while a crowd of more than 200 looked on, keeping half a dozen police officers busy, he said.

Though the crowds came from both nightclubs, police are most worried about Bacchus, where there have been more than 50 criminal incidents--most involving drugs, guns and public urination by both men and women--since the place opened six months ago, Gonis said. Several of the incidents have involved felony arrests, he said.

The club, which is only open four nights a week and has both live music and disc jockeys on two dance floors, also has two pending violations before the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department. One violation is for doing less than 51% of its sales in food as the permit requires, and the second for running a VIP room, according to police.

“It’s more than a nuisance. It’s a big problem for us in terms of causing a lot of field services that could be used better elsewhere,” Gonis said.

Because of the club’s troubled history, the Police Department will ask the Planning Commission to revoke Bacchus’ permit at the commission’s meeting on March 24.

“We’re not trying to run businesses out of town, but this is a drain on our resources,” McDonell said. “It cannot continue to operate as it is without seriously impacting our service to the rest of the community.”

At a City Council meeting Monday afternoon, Bacchus owners pleaded with officials to let them remain open, saying their problems were caused by poor managers who had since been fired. Regarding the fight in the wee hours Friday morning, part-owner Robert Mitchell said most of Bacchus’ security personnel were inside at the time, and that of the six to eight security guards outside, four were working their first night on the job.

“Our past performance has been bad and inexcusable,” Mitchell admitted. “People get drunk and get in fights, it’s just going to happen. . . . We’re going to do what it takes to hire extra security guards.”

Bacchus is a new tenant on the peninsula, but the Warehouse, a seafood restaurant that has live bands on weekend nights, has been operating for eight years and enjoys a good relationship with local police and other city officials.

The Warehouse responds well to queries from police, Gonis said, and has no violations before the state alcohol board.

Warehouse owner Warren Levy said that he does not know what happened during the brawl Friday morning, but that in general Bacchus has been a good neighbor.

“It’s very busy, there’s no doubt about that. Busy in terms of a lot of people, but in terms of problems with us? No,” Levy said Monday. “When (the clubs) let out, it’s not rowdy, but it’s sure loud.

“Look, anytime you have two popular and successful situations so close to each other, you’re going to get a lot of people in this area and we do. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of controlling it.”