Since mid-March, deputies from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department have been called to Twister’s night club in Pittsburg numerous times, Sheriff Sandy Horton told the county commissioners Friday.
The latest event — in the early-morning hours Thursday — prompted Horton to make plans to pull Crawford County EMS personnel out of the ambulance station adjacent to the night club, at least part of the time.
Horton showed a video, captured by a camera set up by a deputy at the cemetery across the U.S. Hwy. 69 from Twisters. On the video, a crowd can be seen gathering outside the night club at about 2:15 a.m. Thursday, followed by four gun shots clearly audible on the tape.
“Are they scattering?” Commissioner Tom Moody asked as he viewed the tape Friday.
“I would be,” said Don Pyle, Crawford County Clerk.
This is the second week in a row Horton’s office has received reports of shots being fired as the Wednesday night bar crowd spilled out into the parking lot at closing time. On May 8, three separate reports were received from separate individuals, Horton said. After the incident this week, Horton said deputies found .40 caliber shell casings, the same weapon carried by law enforcement officials because of its ability to inflict deadly wounds when required.
“We don’t know where the bullets went, we don’t know what they were pointed at,” Horton said. “We figure we’ve probably developed a suspect in this case, but there’s been no arrest at this time.”
The ongoing problems at Twisters seem to be developing in to a pattern, Horton said. Twisters is only open Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, he said. The severity of the incidents varies depending on the night.
“The pattern seems to be, fights on Saturday nights, shots fired on Wednesday nights,” Horton said.
Commissioners echoed Horton’s concerns for the safety of the ambulance crews. Horton told commissioners his plans to pull the crews from the station that serves the northern portions of the county for part of the night on Wednesday nights and into Thursday mornings and move them in to Pittsburg because of the potential danger from stray bullets.
“Somebody’s going to get hurt our killed out there,” Horton said. “We’re working very hard to prevent that, but I believe it’s necessary to move that (ambulance) crew.”
Commissioner Tom Moody agreed something had to be done to protect the EMS personnel housed at the station. Moving the crews, even for a short period of time, could cause response delays of as much as seven minutes, Horton said.
“I don’t know if it’s fair to the people in the northern part of the county,” Moody said. “When we’re talking about ambulance calls, every minute counts.”
In addition to reports of shots being fired for two weeks in a row, numerous reports of assaults and fights at Twisters have been received, Horton said. And on at least one occasion in December 2007, two under-aged females were sent in to the club, working undercover for the Kansas Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) agency as part of a sting operation. Horton expressed his frustration to commissioners Friday after, despite the fact the females provided identification showing their correct ages twice, they were still served beer, he said.
“I have some frustration,” Horton said. “It’s not that we haven’t done a lot of enforcement on this club. I’d like you to support me for once it’s passed my office.”
Part of the frustration, he said, comes when nothing is done in terms of prosecuting violations. The county has a resolution banning anyone under the age of 21 from entering a place that sells liquor unless a minimum of 30 percent of its revenue comes from food sales. When the two “undercovers” were sent in to Twisters by ABC, the owners received a $700 fine, Horton said.
“We’re going to continue our enforcement efforts,” Horton said. “They haven’t seen anything yet.
“Enforcement action is coming. We’ve done it for years, but we need support after that. We need strong prosecution.”