Nov. 28--An Eastern Boulevard nightclub that had its liquor license suspended a week ago was destroyed Tuesday morning when it was gutted by a fire, authorities said. No injuries were reported.
The blaze at the Up Scale club was reported at 3:27 a.m., said Battalion Chief Richard Whiteside of the Fayetteville Fire Department.
Flames were shooting from the roof and the front of the building when firefighters arrived, Whiteside said. The fire was so intense that firefighters could only attack the flames from the outside after arriving.
It took about an hour before firefighters could get inside the building, Whiteside said. Traffic on Eastern Boulevard was blocked for about two hours while they battled the blaze.
The building was valued at $139,000, Whiteside said.
The State Bureau of Investigation is trying to determine the cause of the fire, he said.
The club's ABC permits were suspended Nov. 21 based on repeated police calls reported at the business owned by Reginald Cromartie, according to a release from the N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement Division.
Police said, in affidavits, that they received 243 calls for service at the club between January 2007 and November 2012.
Patricia Bradley, the Fayetteville Police Department's legal adviser, said she documented 40 calls for service from May 2008 through April 2011, based on affidavits released by ALE. The calls included shootings, assaults, disturbances, drug activity and underage drinking.
At least two homicides happened at the club, documents show.
Alton Strange Jr. of Fayetteville was fatally shot June 1, 2008, while running away from the club, documents show.
Terry Tamil Jefferson, 22, of Fayetteville, died Nov. 19 after fighting with another man outside the club, police said.
Other incidents at the club included multiple reports of shootings, shots fired, robberies, drug activity, disturbances and at least one incident in which several people were stabbed.
An affidavit filed by ALE agent Patrick L. Preslar said that he met Nov. 19 with Fayetteville's interim police Chief Katherine Bryant about the club.
"She said the number of calls for service at the business is creating an undue strain on Police Department resources," the affidavit said. "Chief Bryant also expressed concerns for her officers' safety due to the violent nature of the crimes committed at Up Scale NC," Preslar wrote.
"I strongly feel that the continued operation of the business will result in death to citizens and/or law enforcement personnel."
Cromartie was notified in April 2011 that the club had been declared a "public nuisance," the documents show.
Staff writer Nancy McCleary can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3568.
Copyright 2012 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
