Magistrate permanently closes Jitso’s Place, an East Side bar

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Jitso’s Place, an East Side bar declared a nuisance by a court magistrate, is permanently closed and likely will be demolished.

Zachary T. Howell of Youngstown, who owns Jitso’s, 2023 McGuffey Road; Charity L. Shockley of Columbus, who owns the building; and Lenora E. Evans of Austintown, its liquor-license holder, did not object to Tuesday’s decision from Magistrate Dennis Sarisky of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The state Liquor Control Commission has the bar’s liquor license, and it can’t be used again by Evans, Howell or Shockley, said city Prosecutor Jay Macejko.

Macejko received a temporary restraining order May 27 to have police board up the bar as a public nuisance.

Over the last four years, city police received 242 calls to the bar for weapons offenses, shootings, loud music and liquor-law violations, according to the restraining order.

Since the bar closed, it’s a different neighborhood, said the Rev. Rosalyne Mitchell-Martin of Price Memorial AME Zion Church on Dryden Avenue, near Jitso’s.

“I’ve heard gunshots on occasion,” she said. “The noise was the biggest problem at 3:30, 4 in the morning. It’s been a noticeable difference since it closed. I actually heard a baby crying the other day. You can stay outside and hear the sounds of the night. It’s unreal.”

Macejko said he’s heard from a lot of people who live near Jitso’s about the change since the TRO closed the bar May 26.

“We’ve dealt with dope houses and problem bars, but this closing has had the most impact on a community” in a positive way, he said.

Jitso’s owners and the city have discussed demolishing the building with the city paying for the work, Macejko said.

In his ruling, the magistrate wrote that Jitso’s “is dangerous and harmful to the health and safety of the community and is a nuisance.”