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player ready...Lake County officials have revoked the liquor license of a bar in unincorporated Lake Bluff where three people were shot early Christmas morning.
After a Monday hearing regarding eight alleged violations lodged against Nardo’s BBQ Bar and Grill, County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor, who serves as the county’s liquor commissioner, ruled the bar would lose its license for a year and the owner would then have to petition for a new license.
“This is very serious. It’s not normal to have a shooting at one of the bars in our jurisdiction,” Lawlor said.
Three people were wounded when gunfire erupted about 1:30 a.m. Dec. 25 in the parking lot of the bar. All three have since been released from the hospital.
Nardo’s, owned by Rita Usher, was accused of six violations after the shooting: permitting the possession and/or discharge of a firearm, permitting a battery, permitting disorderly conduct to occur on the premises, serving alcohol to an intoxicated person, permitting the sale of alcohol to a minor and remaining open to the public during restricted hours.
Usher pleaded guilty to remaining open during restricted hours and not guilty to the other five Dec. 25 violations. She was then found guilty of the remaining violations, Lawlor said.
According to the county, Nardo’s was previously accused of permitting a battery and permitting a disturbance last August. Usher was found not guilty of both violations, Lawlor said.
All of the violations were of county liquor ordinances. Usher faces no criminal charges or fines.
Usher may appeal Monday’s decision to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, and if she does, the revocation will automatically be delayed until the appeal is completed, Lawlor said.
Attempts to reach Usher for comment were unsuccessful. She consented to proceed with Monday’s hearing without an attorney present, Lawlor said.
Two Lake County sheriff’s deputies testified at Monday’s hearing in regard to the December violations, and a third deputy testified about the August allegations.
Detective Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County sheriff’s office, said Monday that the investigation into the shooting remains open, despite one person already being charged.
Saladine A. McKinney, 23, of North Chicago, was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated unlawful discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, Covelli said.
Covelli said police are investigating others as persons of interest.
Police said two men and a woman were shot outside of Nardo’s after an argument that started inside the bar and moved to the parking lot, Covelli said.
He said a man and woman were shot in the back, and a second man was shot in the leg.
Nardo’s should have been closed by 1 a.m., Lawlor said.
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