San Jose Nightclub Has License Suspended After Chris Brown Concert Shooting

San Jose police have suspended the license of the nightclub where five people were shot while Chris Brown performed over the weekend.

The owner of Fiesta nightclub accepted a 60-day suspension of his entertainment permit and will also get a 60-day suspension from Alcohol Beverage Control, authorities said. That means a concert scheduled at the venue this Friday is now canceled. Both suspensions run through March 16.

The owner also agreed to ABC's decision to place the nightclub on probation for two years.

All five people who were shot survived.

No arrests have been made.

The ABC investigation “revealed that the licensee did not have adequate security measures in place for the January 11, 2015 event,” the department said in a press release. “Over 80 officers responded to the scene, along with fire, and medical units.”

The Grammy-award winning singer was in the middle of performing "Loyal" around 1 a.m. Sunday morning when gunshots rang out.

According to event promo materials, Brown was at the nightclub for a "Capricorn Bash" party, where ticket prices were going for anywhere between $50 and $2,500.

Cell phone video posted on social media by those attending the event, including Chris Brown himself, captured the moments leading up to the shooting and the aftermath.

Lt. James Hunt of SJPD said officers found shell casings inside the club at 3840 Monterey Highway and outside in the parking lot. Hunt said, when police arrived, some of the shooting victims were found inside the club and some were found outside.

Video footage shows nightclub guests panicking and running for cover as shots ring out. Brown himself appears to wince as the shots are fired, and is then led away by members of his entourage.

Police will continue to collaborate with ABC and city code enforcement officials on issues concerning the club and the city attorney's office will address any violations,  police spokeswoman Sgt. Heather Randol said.

The department's administrative vice unit had warned the club owner prior to Brown's party that the venue needed to take extra security measures in light of a shooting that wounded three at a party Brown emceed in West Hollywood on Aug. 24, "and they did not do that," Randol said.

A spokesperson for ABC said Thursday the nightclub had a history of other violent incidents over the past year.

The Fiesta has operated under a liquor license issued to Miguel Sandoval, president of the company LG Group, Inc., since July 26, 1991, according to ABC records.

Sandoval's annually renewed license is due to expire this coming Feb. 28, according to the ABC.

In 2014, the club was the site of an assault with a deadly weapon resulting in a head injury on Jan. 13; an assault and battery by a patron against another on March 13; a gunshot on July 13 that prompted police to clear 500 people from the club and its parking lot, and an assault by a patron who clubbed a person with bottle on Aug. 21, ABC spokesperson John Carr said.

The incidents together "were all used in this report by the ABC to determine what the penalty should be" against Sandoval, Carr said.

"It's a stiff penalty," he said

The two-year probation period means that the Fiesta's liquor license could be revoked if similar violations occur during that period, he said.

City business license records list Sandoval's LG Group as the licensee of the Fiesta Nightclub/Cowtown from August 1, 1991 to last August 15.

The next licensee is listed as Katia Reyes, as of Jan. 7, three days before the Brown party started at 9 p.m. Saturday.

Reyes is also listed as of Jan 7. as the holder of the county's five-year fictitious firm name certificate for the business as Fiesta Cajun House.

According to city planning records, in 2007, the San Jose Planning Commission turned down Sandoval's request for a conditional use permit asking to use a plexiglass wall to separate the nightclub for adults aged at least 21 years from a family restaurant allowing minors.

While the planning staff recommended approving a permit, San Jose police raised objections about a lack of police resources in the area, the possibility that minors would loiter and use alcohol and past infractions and non-compliance with permit requirements by the club.

Police Lt. David Hober opposed splitting the nightclub and restaurant because minors might commingle with adults and drink alcohol and said that the Fiesta had a history of underage persons served alcohol.

The club's representative at the meeting was George Shirakawa, Jr., who said the owner wanted under-aged patrons to share in the enjoyment of the music, that alcohol would not be served in the restaurant after 9 p.m. and security officers would prevent alcohol brought in from the bar side.

With the application, the Fiesta submitted a proposed security plan, including at least 12 security guards on the property on Saturday and Sunday nights, when to 250 to 500 people attend.

The commission voted down the use permit request by a 4-2 vote.

Also Thursday, a judge revoked Brown's probation but allowed him to remain free for now after the R&B singer traveled without approval for a concert and failed to complete community service on time.

Brown is scheduled to return to San Jose for a concert at the SAP Center on March 6.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

Contact Us