Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A club owner whose bar was the scene of a brutal beating is crying foul after the Wichita City Council revoked his liquor license.

The council heard two hours of testimony in the case of Doobley's bars, one in west Wichita and one in the south part of town. Doobley's bar owner Robert Crandell says the six month revocation of his liquor license, in a sense, means a shut down to him.

The 4-3 vote by the council comes a year after a man was severely beaten outside Dooley's on north West Street. Police say Crandell gave false statements to police after the victim was discovered. Crandell says he was told the man had passed out in the parking lot in the early morning hours of June 1st 2010. Police believe Crandell knew one of his patrons hit the victim in the mouth. The man barely survived.

"A six month revocation is a shut down. I'm not a millionaire," said Crandell after the decision.

His attorney says he will file an appeal and ask for a temporary injunction to allow liquor sales in Doobley's until a court can hear the case. Crandell pleaded no contest to obstruction of the legal process, saying he did so because he couldn't afford to go to trial.