State officials turn up the heat on Club Fuel

The hip-hop nightclub is accused of refilling liquor bottles and is in danger of losing its liquor license.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 11, 2007

In addition to previous complaints about Club Fuel, the nightclub is now being accused of refilling liquor bottles.
	[Bob Croslin | Times (2005)]

TAMPA -- Ybor City's Club Fuel is under investigation by the state, and its liquor license is at stake.

The hip-hop nightclub is accused of refilling liquor bottles by the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, the state agency that provides and regulates liquor licenses.

Refilling is when a business puts new product into an empty bottle. That can mean passing off cheap liquor as the expensive kind or refilling a used bottle with the same brand of liquor. Officials wouldn't say what type of refilling Fuel is charged with, but said the latter is much less common.

"Our agents were at that business approximately three weeks ago, and found evidence of refilling," said department press secretary Alexis Antonacci. "We've also found that in the past at that establishment."

There are two cases in the department's system, both opened within the past two months. Officials can't say what led them to investigate.

Officers can identify refilling in several ways, Antonacci said. Stored bottles might have broken seals. Agents could observe bottles being refilled. Some agents can tell by a change in the liquor's color. And they can also sometimes find discrepancies during audits of the business accounts.

If convicted, the state could revoke Fuel's liquor license.

Richard Mackizer, whom police recognize as a manager for the club, referred comment to his attorney, Thomas Smith, who did not return a Times phone call.

Fuel is also under the scrutiny of two city agencies.

The city attorney's office has been interviewing neighbors and local business owners, but officials will not disclose what they plan to do with the information.

"Because there's a chance there might be litigation, we can't comment on that," said assistant city attorney David Shobe.

And within the past week, the Tampa Police Department referred the club to a collections agency for not paying an outstanding debt of $5,120 for the services of off-duty officers.

Because of the debt, the police stopped providing the club with off-duty officers.

Last summer, Club Fuel made headlines when Tampa police Maj. Bob Guidara painted a grim picture of what goes on after midnight at the 1900 block of E Seventh Avenue, which Fuel shares with Empire Nightclub.

Done with partying, clubbers spill into the street drunk and high, looking for trouble. Police enforcement is high, but so is crime.

Also last summer, Fuel faced the possibility of losing its wet-zoning over eight noise violation charges, but the cases were dropped because Tampa police paperwork failed to print the maximum noise decibel levels in its citations.

Now, Fuel will have to answer to the state.

"Whatever they have coming to them, they probably deserve," said Tony LaColla, president of the Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association. "The business owners in Ybor City are really hurting. This is one of the worst years they've been through. I really believe Club Fuel is one of the main causes of the problems in Ybor City."

Richard Boom, who owns the Dirty Shame pub in Ybor, says he needs to close early every weekend night to make sure his patrons leave safely before the hip-hop clubs empty. From within his pub, he watches "tremendous fights" unfold outside Fuel.

"I would be greatly encouraged if I saw the city trying to take the steps, but I don't feel that they are," Boom said. "I think they're just going to spin their wheels."

Club Fuel's lease will expire next year, and building owner Joel Brewer has said he does not plan to renew it.

But LaColla hopes the club will shut down sooner.

"It's a long time coming," LaColla said. "I know that business is not on the up-and-up, and it's really time that Club Fuel go away."

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at azayas@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3354.

[Last modified October 10, 2007, 23:19:30]