Post Now: DC9 co-owner resigns, 4 employees let go

A co-owner of DC9 has resigned and four other employees have been let go, TBD.com reports.

The departures come just weeks following the death of a man allegedly at the hands of the former nightclub employees.

Joe Englert, who owns a controlling share of DC9, testified Monday before the District's Alcoholic Beverage Control board that he had accepted the resignation of co-owner Bill Spieler, and that of Darryl Carter, Evan Preller, Arthur Zaloga, and Reginald Phillips had been "let go."

The five have been charged with aggravated assault in the beating of Ali Ahmed Mohammed in front of the club at Ninth and U streets NW where the men worked.

Mohammed, 27, tried to enter DC9 on Oct. 15, but was turned away at the door. He became angry and threw at least one brick through the nightclub's front window, witnesses told investigators.

According to a police affidavit, witnesses told police that five men left the bar and chased Mohammed of Silver Spring.

One witness told police that the men chased Mohammed and that Preller caught him and threw him to the ground, according to the affidavit. The witness watched Carter, Zaloga, Spieler and Phillips "stomp the victim on the head and the body" as Preller held him down, the document states. Spieler kicked Mohammed several times, the witness told police, according to the affidavit.