One of the city's most popular go-go establishments, Breeze's Metro Club on Bladensburg Road NE, has been ordered to surrender its liquor license by Aug. 3 for having permitted underage drinking on at least 14 occasions in 1989.
Longtime Metro Club owner Daniel Clayton denies the charges and said he will appeal the decision by the city's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. In a written opinion that accompanied the order, the board cited a three-month police investigation that uncovered "repeated incidents of sales of alcoholic beverages and consumption thereof by minors."
The club has been run by Clayton at 2335 Bladensburg Rd. NE since 1976, and has been viewed by police as a trouble spot since the mid-1980s, when it began hosting Thursday and Saturday night go-go dances that drew a young, boisterous crowd. Adult audiences on other nights draw few complaints.
Breeze's has a security system that includes metal detectors, private guards, impromptu searches and bullet-proof windows, but sporadic violence has broken out near the club.
In July 1990, a fight between three young men inside the club spilled into the parking lot, where a 17-year-old was fatally shot.
Another fight that started inside the club in October 1991 ended in the shooting death of a 23-year-old man outside, and last March two men who police believe had been inside Breeze's were shot to death on a residential street a block away, according to ABC board documents.
In late 1989, acting on complaints from nearby residents about noise and unruly behavior by club patrons, the 5th District police began sending in teams of 20-year-old officers to try to buy drinks.
After a three-month probe found repeated cases of minors drinking or being served, police and neighbors asked the ABC board to make its own investigation. A one-year series of hearings ensued during which the board heard witnesses for the police and the club.
Last week, the board ruled that the license should be revoked, citing six instances of service to minors and eight cases of underage drinking. The board also cited the club for not checking age cards consistently and for serving alcohol after the 3 a.m. District cutoff time.
Police had also asked the ABC board to hold Breeze's liable for the 1990 shooting, but the board cleared the club of that charge.
Clarence Stanback, the attorney for Breeze's, said his client is appealing to Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, the ABC board and the D.C. Court of Appeals.
He said his client denies the charges, says the city is using him as an example and considers the penalty unfair for a first-time offender. Clayton has never been cited for an ABC violation, board officials said.
"They have no evidence. They took no alcohol out of here. One officer bought another a drink. If that's the case, they were guilty, not me," Clayton said. "I have done everything I can to go along, to protect my customers and to protect the community. What they're doing is too severe."
Clayton said signs requiring identification, hand-stamps to distinguish underage customers, video monitors and doormen allow no minors to be served in his club, which has a 299-person capacity.
ABC officials said Clayton's offenses go beyond the typical case of a single sale to a minor that results in a three-day suspension and $1,000 fine, of which there are about 20 a year.
Only one or two licenses are revoked each year, and they are usually for lewd or drug-related offenses, ABC program manager Paul Waters said.
"It is very rare to revoke a license," Waters said. But 14 infractions is "considerable," he added.
Alcohol control advocates hailed the board's move as a needed message to bars and convenience stores that routinely sell to minors.
And while ABC officials insist that the ruling was not intended as such, Janet McCormick, a spokeswoman, said: "The board is trying to become more visible and do all within its power to make sure the law is enforced. Maybe it will keep other folks out of trouble."
Neighbors and police said the board's action, if upheld, would close the dance club and reduce problems in the area.
"The clientele who frequent the place caused the spillout into the streets and . . . the trouble," said Deputy Chief Charles Bacon, who covered the area in the 1980s.
But Deputy Chief Donald Christian, the current 5th District commander, said pulling the license will mostly serve to "greatly enhance citizen satisfaction in that area."
"I've been inundated with complaints of peripheral activity of Breeze's patrons in the neighborhood, but not necessarily in the club," he said."To his credit, Clayton made an admirable attempt to tighten up on security."
Gateway Civic Association president Parney Jenkins, who has met with Clayton over the years to try to get him to drop go-go nights, said Breeze's wore out its welcome.
"That club attracted unwanted elements," Jenkins said. "We're a pretty quiet community and it brought a lot of problems into the community."