Judge restrains the Minx

GLENDALE — A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Friday granted a temporary restraining order against the Minx Restaurant and Lounge, preventing its management from running illegal nightclub activities, officials said.

City attorneys Friday filed the nuisance abatement action against the Minx, which they said had been operating as a nightclub in violation of its permit to operate as a restaurant, City Atty. Scott Howard said.

The restaurant has allegedly had issues with overcrowding, arrests, drugs, noise and intoxication, Howard said. Promoters have also chained exit doors shut to stop people from sneaking inside during massive parties, he added.

“Enough is enough,” Howard said. “We are not trying to shut their restaurant business down or their typical bar business, but the nightclub operation, for which they don’t have a permit, needs to end, at least now or until they come in and get a conditional-use permit and have it fully conditioned appropriately to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare.”

The Minx’s management could not be reached for comment Friday.

The city’s action comes a week after police were called to the Minx early New Year’s Day because a patron had been stabbed during a fight inside the restaurant, Glendale Police Lt. Bruce Fox said.

A sergeant went inside the restaurant to help the stabbed man, but was met with hostile partygoers, he said. The sergeant called for backup because the large crowd was growing increasingly agitated.

But when police arrived, they stopped short of entering after some members of the large crowd allegedly threatened the relatively small group of officers, Fox said.

“We couldn’t safely enter, so we surrounded the location,” he said.

Police got the crowd to evacuate the restaurant, so paramedics could go inside and rescue the injured patron, who was taken to a local hospital and treated for a nearly 6-inch stab wound, Fox said.

Then, as the large crowd moved out of the restaurant, multiple fights broke out in the parking lot, Fox said.

Police were eventually able to disperse the crowd, but the parking lot was left littered with condoms, vomit, broken glass and other debris, Fox said.

The New Year’s Day incident was just one of several nuisances that police had already logged at the restaurant.

Police got 19 noise complaints in 2009 from residents, including from someone who lived a mile away, he said.

The restaurant reportedly left its doors open during parties and hosted outdoor music events, which city officials said they don’t have permits for.

Police also received 64 calls for service last year related to the restaurant, which Fox said was up from 48 in 2008.

They made seven arrests at the restaurant last year, where he said 10 assaults occurred.

The Fire Department also logged more than 25 calls for service at the restaurant in the same period, Howard said.

A nuisance abatement hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.