CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland is trying to shut down another Downtown bar by having it declared a nuisance.
Filter, which is located at 740 West Superior Ave., was closed after a Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge granted the city a temporary restraining order last Friday.
The bar's closure comes just weeks after the city shut down Play Bar and Grill following a shooting in the Flats that injured six people.
'Constant illegal activity'
The judge found the bar has been the site of "constant illegal activity," including a homicide, an assault, and numerous liquor law violations.
According to court documents, a man was shot and killed in a parking lot next to the bar in June. Police said surveillance video showed the victim walking to his vehicle from Filter before he was shot by an "unknown person."
The documents also describe a New Year's Day assault outside the bar. A woman told police she and another woman "were jumped outside Filter Bar" while waiting in line to enter Filter. The woman told police approximately 10 unknown suspects "were kicking and punching her in the face, head, and body."
Cleveland police also reported they were "refused entry" on multiple occasions while attempting to conduct liquor inspections. When officers eventually gained access, they discovered violations, including 10.5 pounds of marijuana stored in a locked cooler, a gun, and a failure to display their permit.
News 5 spoke with Filter's owner, Kyler Smith, on Thursday. He declined our request for an on-camera interview, but told us he is confident his bar will reopen.
'We're trying to build a city'
"It just seems like it went south pretty quickly," Laurie Torres said. Torres has owned Mallorca, a Spanish and Portuguese restaurant on West 9th Street in the Warehouse District, for 30 years.
"Filter is right around the corner from me and I had high hopes for them when they opened," she said. "It does break my heart because I really wanted them to succeed."
Torres also serves as president of the Cleveland Independents, which represents Northeast Ohio restaurants. She supports the city taking aggressive action against any establishments failing to follow local and state liquor laws.
"We're really trying to build a city," Torres said. "We want people to come into their urban center, into Cleveland again, feel safe, feel like— know that's a good place where they can come."
"If they're not following the rules, they're not following the law, and it's causing a problem for the city, then we really can't complain when the city tries to do something about it," she said.
Play Bar & Grill
Filter's closure follows controversy surrounding the city's closure of Play Bar and Grill on the East Bank of the Flats.
The bar was shut down and boarded up following a shooting after the Cleveland Browns opener, where six people were hurt.
News 5 obtained text messages showing Mayor Justin Bibb told senior staff members to "use every department to shut this place down. If we get sued, then we get sued."
Watch more about the texts:
Related: Cleveland mayor's text after Flats shooting: '... shut this place down. If we get sued, we get sued'
"Really, what that message is saying is, 'I don't care what the facts are.' Let's look like we're doing something," said Subodh Chandra, a civil rights attorney and Cleveland's former law director.
Chandra questioned the city's approach to Play Bar and Grill, noting the shooting occurred outside the bar.
"What is troubling to me here is that if the shooting took place outside of the bar... then there is a high probability it had nothing to do with the bar whatsoever," Chandra said.
Police have not connected the shooting to Play Bar and Grill. The bar's owners have filed a lawsuit against the city and say they will continue to battle Cleveland in court.
