TOWNSHIP POLICE Shooting death caps violent week at bar

Police want to pull the liquor license of a township trouble spot.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A week of violence at a township bar culminated in the shooting death of a 29-year-old city man, police said.
Moments after Orson Provitt, of Jackson Street, pushed another patron at the Golden Stallion on Main Street around 2:20 a.m. today, shots were fired.
"Mr. Provitt was standing right by the bar and someone just began shooting with an automatic weapon," said Lt. Don Bishop. "Mr. Provitt was shot numerous times but no one else was injured."
No arrests have been made.
Police are not sure why Provitt pushed someone or the motive behind the shooting. Police also declined to say exactly what type of weapon was used or how may times Provitt was shot.
The Trumbull County Coroner's office will do an autopsy later today.
Recurrent problems
"We have been called there just about every day this week," Bishop said. "There was a shooting there a few days ago and we were also called out this week for an aggravated assault."
Bishop and Police Chief Thomas Rush said officials are hoping to pull the bar's liquor license when it is up for renewal.
"There have always been problems at that place, but before we were called out there once or twice every couple weeks," Rush said. "Lately, we have been there just about every day. We are a small department."
A woman answering the phone at the establishment said this morning that since 77 Soul club was shut down in Warren, the Golden Stallion has received a larger crowd. She noted that she believes today's shooting was because of "bad blood" between two people. "There was nothing anyone could have done to stop it," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
Rush noted that because of the large crowds at the bar he has had to ask for help from neighboring police departments, Warren City and Lordstown.
"There are some huge crowds down there, and I think that's due to some other local bars closing," Rush said.
The Golden Stallion will be closed tonight, the woman said.
The bar was closed for three days in February by the Trumbull County Health Department. The bar was shut down after inspectors found mold on the walls in a cooler, moldy vegetables and food stored at the wrong temperature, along with other violations.
sinkovich@vindy.com