Benji's neighbors cheer as it's padlocked

By Tim Yovich

A hearing will be April 15 to determine if Benji Brown’s will be closed permanently.

WARREN — Neighbors of Benji Brown’s Bar and Grill cheered and motorists honked in support as the city padlocked the North Park Avenue nightspot.

City crews barricaded the doors and windows of the two-story building with plywood Tuesday afternoon. Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court has declared Benji Brown’s a nuisance — at least for now.

Judge Stuard’s order came after a Saturday raid conducted by agents of the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Ohio Investigative Unit and the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Special Response Team. Seized, authorities said, were 800 partially filled or full bottles of alcohol, two bags of suspected marijuana and some bills.

Benji Brown operator Lashawn Ziegler, 35, pleaded innocent Monday in municipal court to a charge of unlawful storage of alcohol.

Watching the crew cutting the plywood and nailing it in place were Don Leipply, finance officer of American Legion Post 278, which is next door to the 2261 North Park club; and Greg Smith, Post 278 commander. They and others in the neighborhood have been trying to get rid of the bar.

They said that the noise, gunfire and litter has significantly decreased the number of people who rent the post for events such as graduations and wedding receptions. “People are afraid to come here,” Leipply said.

Normally the post is rented once or twice a month, but there hasn’t been a renter for nearly a year. The post has been relying on donations to stay open.

Leipply and Smith explained that they even stayed at the post on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve to guard it because of the mayhem at Benji Brown’s.

Mayor Michael J. O’Brien credited its closing to the cooperation among law enforcement agencies and information provided by neighbors.

Glen Boller, who lives on Douglas Street around the corner from the bar, couldn’t agree more. He credits Traci Rose-Timko, an assistant city prosecutor, as a major factor.

The neighbors, who are members of the neighborhood block watch and used Post 278 as a meeting place, have been providing authorities with information for five months with hopes of getting the bar closed, Boller said.

Judge Stuard will hold a hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday to determine if Benji Brown’s should be closed permanently as a nuisance.

According to a complaint filed by city Law Director Gregory Hicks with the court seeking the closure order, the business is owned by MMG Investments LLC of Warren with Ziegler as its statutory agency.

The building is owned by Robert Cregar, doing business as RWC Rentals of Newton Falls. Neither Cregar nor RWC have listed telephone numbers. Ziegler did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Ziegler has complained over the years that the city has been harassing him.

“If anybody has been harassed, it’s the neighbors,” Hicks said. “The only way we can abate this nuisance is through an emergency order.”

After Saturday’s raid, Ziegler told one of the agents that he planned to reopen immediately because he “has bills to pay,” according to the legal action.

The city police department reports receiving 57 calls for service at Benji Brown’s, including a homicide July 29, 2007, in the parking lot.

Surveillance showed that 200 to 300 people entered the bar on any given Friday or Saturday night between 2 and 4:30 a.m., the court was told, and agents have witnesses loud music, yelling, parking on sidewalks and in private drives and once heard gunfire from inside the building.

Ziegler said Monday that he wasn’t selling alcohol, noting he was making money by selling soft drink setups for customers who brought in their own alcohol and food. He did admit, however, that he had alcohol stored in the bar. He also had a cover charge at the front door. He said he would reopen by selling memberships.

According to their complaint, undercover agents purchased alcohol there March 29, and Saturday before the raid.

Ziegler has complained that city police have been harassing him — including the 2004 closing of Soul 77, a Youngstown Road nightspot run by Zeigler. Police Chief John Mandopoulos said his department wasn’t involved in the latest investigation to avoid any possible conflict of interest.

yovich@vindy.com