Walnut Creek Police

Walnut Creek May Require Popular Bar Crogan's to Close Earlier

A longtime and popular Walnut Creek bar is being blamed by the city for draining police resources.

Crogan's Sports Bar & Grill in downtown has been a fixture in the Walnut Creek club scene for nearly 40 years. The city on Tuesday held a special hearing to consider a new requirement for the bar to stop liquor sales at midnight and to close by 12:30 a.m.

It is a move that would put Crogan's out of business, owner Patricia Wilkinson said.

"It makes a huge difference monetarily for us," Wilkinson said.

Authorities said the bar on Locust Street has become a public nuisance, sucking up resources with police responding to more than 700 calls in the last four years. City officials also said police are unable to patrol residential neighborhoods because they are being tied up with calls to the bar.

No other bar in the city calls for service as much as Crogan's does, police said.

"It came to a head when we had the homicide nearby," Walnut Creek Police Lt. Lanny Edwards said.

In August, a patron of Crogan's was shot and killed across the street from the bar.

Detectives said follow-up interviews uncovered that people were coming to Walnut Creek because they get away with bringing guns into the bar.

"Because their towns that they used to party at were now frisking and checking with metal detectors," Edwards said. "And the Walnut Creek establishments did not do that."

Meanwhile, Wilkinson said the early last call will spell the end of her business and is appealing the decision. Wilkinson also disputes the number of calls for services.

"We did not have 735 calls for Crogan's," she said.

City officials said they needed more time to make a final call and go over additional information they received from the bar. A final decision is scheduled to be made on Dec. 5.

For now, the Crogan's will continue to operate as usual and stay open until 2 a.m.

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