Planning & Infrastructure/GIS Committee - Special Meeting

I ain't going to ask it anymore.

If everybody on the meeting, I'm ready.

You told me that.

Councilwoman Taylor. If everybody on the meeting, I'm ready.

I'm sorry, we should know you're not.

The special meeting, the black is now called to order. We've already had the invocation. Roll call, Madam Clerk.

Councilwoman Taylor. Present. Councilman Brooks. Here. Councilman Talaferro. Here. Councilman Butcher. Here. Councilman Jackson. Councilman Jacobs. Councilman Green. I'm here. And Councilwoman Bowman.

Present.

Are there any public comments?

No, ma'am.

Okay.

The purpose of the meeting is to hear the request of the suspension of an alcohol beverage permit for R&W consumers. Do we have any requests to speak? Is that in accordance? Attorney Edwards?

Do you want to hear from SPD and also from the property owner?

Okay. So I would ask that the city attorney would then swear them in.

Do you want the property owner to swear them in?

Who's going to speak for the property owner? Aye, please state your name.

Aye, William Smith.

Do solemnly swear. Solemnly swear. To state the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Thank you.

Can you send me a cash app so I can go get me some meat?

Now you can go in the back and get you some chips. You can go in the back and get you some chips.

No, a little of all of them. Councilwoman, send your pastor a little of all of them.

I sent one yesterday. I sent the son. Thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I'm here to speak in reference to R&W consumers, grocery, their alcohol. I know this was for a suspension. The state has suspended their license, but due to other circumstances, we are, the city of Shreveport, Shreveport Police Department is asking for revocation of this license. We are here today to formally request the revocation of R&W consumer grocery alcohol license located at 4101 Hollywood, Shreveport, Louisiana, District F, due to the repeated violations, blatant disregard to city and state laws, and the ongoing danger of this establishment poses to our community. This request comes after a series of A series of serious incidents, including a shooting of a patron by one of the business employees inside that establishment itself. Incidents so severe that the state imposed the suspension of their alcohol sales privileges along with the city. Yet even while under suspension, the business has continued to sell alcohol in direct violation of the city's orders, in-state orders. Not only have they been operating illegally, they have intentionally moved their surveillance cameras away from the business activity in apparent effort to conceal what is taking place on the premises. So we were contacted by Realtown Crime Center saying alcohol was still being sold and they adjusted their cameras to where we could not see. These actions demonstrate no remorse, accountability, or cooperation, but deliberate defiance. This conduct shows complete disrespect for the authority of this council, for our state and local laws, and for the safety and well-being of the Mooretown community. We're asking revocation of this liquor license. Additionally, during the compliance inspection conducted two days after the shooting, we discovered employees working with expired ABO cards, suspected narcotics paraphernalia, scales, cash consistent with illicit activity, illegal drugs being sold behind the counter. So I do have some pictures of that as well. The individuals present refused to provide statements and the investigation remains ongoing with criminal charges pending. At this point, the Shreveport Police Department is not aware of who the actual liquor license is permitted to. We suspect there may be individuals operating through interposed persons and we request that the ownership be formally stated on the record today so that additional legal actions may proceed accordingly. This establishment has shown to be engaged in unlawful conduct, a lack of accountability, and disregard for public safety. For these reasons, we respectfully ask the council to revoke this business's alcohol license immediately. So myself and Agent Blue conducted a business inspection on the day, two days prior to the shooting where we observed behind the register. The clerk advised that this is somebody else's prescription pills that they were selling for $7.99 individually. What are they? They are the legend drug Viagra, but they had somebody else's prescription and they're selling them individually.

And they admitted that?

I can't tell you the real name of it. It's been sent to the crime lab. I don't have the results, but it is generic Viagra. Yes. Yes. $7.99 for a pill. And they just punch them out and give them to the customer.

Did this clerk have an ABO card? It was expired. Okay.

We were informed by the crime lab that there's a newer form of a very dangerous substance that's making its way into our country on drugs like this, cyclorafine, which is more dangerous than The other drug that's killing people.

Fentanyl.

Fentanyl. It is ten times more dangerous than fentanyl. It's making its way into our country on non-FDA regulated stuff. And this was prior to the shooting. So you don't know what you're taking.

This was prior to the shooting that you saw this, or this was after? Today, yes. Today was after.

Okay. Yes. So also, during that same inspection, we observed that Packaging material. So these are little baggies that normally crack rock is normally put in. And then in that same box, you had Brillo pads. Those are used for the filters that you put in the crack pipes to smoke your crack. And then the crack pipes were also along with So basically, you had a setup that a person can come in and buy a setup to smoke crack from this location. Also, a digital scale was found along with these items. Not only was the items all together, they did have a bundle of money and small bills, ones and fives, that was stuck in the box with this stuff. And it was $150, but it was not put in the register. It was just stuck in the box hanging out to make sure it was separated from proceeds inside of the register. And that's normally, from my experience, with narcotic sales.

From your experience, what is the digital scale for?

Digital scale is to measure any kind of narcotic or drug before you bag it in the little bags.

So it wouldn't be like to weigh bananas?

No, not with that small scale.

I have a question, Madam Chair.

Corporal Bradley? Yes. On the agenda, it says request for suspension. You just said request for revocation. Which one is it?

So the initial one, we sent the request for the suspension right after the initial incident occurred to go along with state when they suspended the license. But once we were contacted by Real Crime Center that they were still not upholding the suspension that was in place, we're asking for a revocation.

So had the city already suspended them or just the state?

Both. One is not valid without the other. So currently they do not go to the state. The state has issued a mandatory appearance on Tuesday, June 9th at 10.30 a.m. So currently they do not have a...

When were they suspended by the state?

On...

May 2nd. May 2nd of this year? Yes. And you took these pictures after that date? Yes. And they moved their surveillance cameras so RTCC couldn't see in the building?

RTCC contacted us and said they were still selling, and then they had adjusted the cameras to where it's hard to see the point of sale. So yes.

I'm sure. So now you're asking for revocation.

yes okay thank you officer bradley at this time we don't know if the owner of the store and i'm gonna say building because i know that could be separate who's the store owner who's the building owner and we don't know if that's the same person as who's over the liquor license i'm asking these here the question because i i think these are some serious allegations councilman green and i want to make sure that It's not a simple process just to find somebody else to get the liquor license back in and then they just resume normal operations. So if you can kind of talk us through what that scenario looks like for a transfer or somebody else applying for a new liquor license at this particular location.

Yes, so on the ownership, we have an application that was turned in in 2025 that had the owner as Omar Ibbitsum, and the spouse would be Omar Ahmad. Also, we have Ali Shock we as the owner and then the spouse is Ali Saku This is of the business, correct?

Not the property.

This is the business so as Of the latest one we have the Ali Shock we and the Ali's sock wood but we have that person has never been to the ABO office to get a background check and Yes, these are like the... I do. So on the Secretary of State, it shows that the agent was Ali Chokwe, and then the officer vice president is the Omar Ibbitsum.

Who is... Who is... I don't even know how to say it. S-H-A-D-Y-A, and then the last name is Z-E-I-D-A-N. Is that the landlord? Zedon? Zedon? Shadaya? Shadaya Zian? Okay. Ma'am? Revoke.

Revoke the lot in the address.

Unfortunately, my recollection is that when you revoke a particular license, you can also suspend that address for, I think it's up to 12 months. 12 months.

Yeah, we did that on MLK.

Yeah, we did it on MLK.

Yeah, he did it.

Lots of court hearings on that one.

Okay.

So I guess with the state still having them under suspension as well, we have notified the state that they have continued to sell alcohol as well with them being suspended from ATC. So they're not supposed to sell alcohol or tobacco at this time. Both of those licenses have been suspended by the state. I guess I need to give this copy to Ms. Bogan for submission.

So, corporately, if we revoke this license in the state, we'll automatically revoke it as well? Yes. Okay.

Attorney, are you finished? Any more questions? Attorney Motile?

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Esteemed Chair, Vice Chair, and other panel members. My name is Edward Mouton. I'm generally a criminal defense attorney, but I've been hired to represent the R&W consumers in this matter.

I've heard an awful lot of allegations with very little proof.

Cameron was moved to facilitate alcohol purchases, but no proof of any alcohol purchases were made. I have a statement that was prepared by R&W Consumers, and I'll read that into the record now. First, I'd like to say that R&W Consumers understands the seriousness of why we are here today. The safety of their consumers, their employees, and their community is extremely important to them, and they do not take this matter lightly. What happened was an unfortunate and isolated incident involving an independent actions of one employee. That employee was, in fact, the manager and was likely responsible for maybe some of the other things that were going on in the store, which were not condoned or agreed to by the management. As soon as they became aware of this situation, they acted immediately. That employee, the manager that was involved, was immediately terminated with prejudice, and they fully cooperated with law enforcement in their investigation. Since then, they have strengthened their internal policies, increased oversight, and made it clear that there is zero tolerance for threats, violence, or misconduct on the premises of any kind. We respectfully ask the council to consider that the person responsible is no longer employed with the business and that the issue that caused this concern has already been directly addressed. Suspending the alcohol permit would severely impact not just ownership but innocent employees and their families who rely on this business for their livelihood. They have worked hard to cooperate responsibly in this community and this single incident does not reflect who they are as a business that has been active in the neighborhood area in support of the community and supportive of the Mooretown Community Center. They're committed to compliance, safety, and rebuilding trust. We respectfully ask for the opportunity to continue operating and ask that the request for the suspension of their permit be denied. Thank you for your time and consideration.

is present. She is owner of the store and her husband, Omar.

And they would certainly be happy to answer any questions that the council would have.

That's my telephone.

Okay, so let me understand that it was the manager of the store who was responsible for the photos that we saw and the way that business was being conducted.

And furthermore, was allegedly a person who had discharged a weapon inside the store injuring a customer, and he has been terminated with prejudice.

Okay, so that was the manager. and the owners had no knowledge of what was behind the counters, what the store manager was doing because they never visited the property that they owned.

I think that they did, but they could answer that and would be happy to be sworn in and respond to that.

I'd just like to know how much knowledge they should have had with the manager that they hired It looks like this practice was the normal daily routine of the store, and if I was a store owner and I paid attention to my store, this was something I would definitely notice, even as a casual observer walking behind the counter on any day of the week.

I can't speak directly to that. I understand.

All right. Well, then, what?

No, I don't think so.

They had a previous inspection on the 28th and apparently things were in order at that time.

So when was the gentleman fired, the manager, when was he fired? Immediately after the incident? That's correct. But two days later they went and the materials were still there. Is that right?

Madam Chair. Yes. Did the manager have an active AVO card at the time?

Yes.

And can you speak to why alcohols, so you're saying that no alcohol sales were taking place after the suspended license?

I have no knowledge of any alcohol sales taking place after the revocation of the license. But you did state that the police did not provide any proof of alcohol sales. You're saying it's just an allegation. That's correct. I heard the same testimony you did.

Okay. Do we have proof?

Yes, I'm pulling video from Real Time Crime Center, but my laptop doesn't have any service.

But they, I just talked to them and they said it has been downloaded to evidence.com.

And the reason that we don't have, we don't have a owner to bring to justice, basically. That's what we were coming for, is the interposing, is to say who the owner was, because she has not been to the ABO office to get a background check, to assume ownership. Because the person that completed the application and said that they were, she was the spouse of the owner. And he just said that Omar was the husband and we have a Sockwood and a Shakee. So, Sokoud and, yeah, S-H-A-W-Q-I, Ali. And then we have a S-A-K-O-O-D, Ali.

Mr. Mouton's statement under oath was that she is the current owner, right? That's my understanding, yes. But she's never filled out an ABO or a license or anything like that?

We don't have a background from her.

Okay.

Excuse me, how long has she been the owner? She doesn't work there. Well, how long is?

About 18 years. Do they need to be sworn in? I think so.

Mr. Mouton, how long has she been there?

Yes, if they're going to be answering questions on the record, they should be sworn in.

Well, all three of your clients.

Yeah, on information brief, 18 years.

They all stand so they could be sworn in? Yeah. So their information would be legitimate on the record?

I think all three probably need to, he was speaking too.

He was speaking as well.

Not enough.

Your question again?

Just basically I was. If she's the owner and has never had an ABO card, is that correct? But does she sell alcohol there? Does the owner of an establishment that has alcohol has to have an ABO card, correct?

Yes, they're supposed to submit a background check, the owner and the spouse.

Okay.

My question was, after the shooting incident, you said the manager got fired, right?

He's not a manager. He's a cashier. Okay. So he got fired. He got fired right away.

Right. So then the store was not supposed to sell alcohol. So two days later, he was gone, but y'all were still selling alcohol?

We did not sell alcohol. Two days later, they came with the suspension after the incident. We haven't done anything.

Okay.

Thank you. But you have video showing that they did.

Since the incident, I've never been there.

Come to the mic.

Since the incident, we've never been there, us here. You know, we got sick. I mean, we've never been there since the incident.

So who's running the store now? Is it open or closed?

The doors are open for the zoning because the landlord, he asked us to keep it open for some hours. They open, I think, from 9, 10 to 8, 9.

So who's been running the store? Who's been there?

I'm sorry?

Who's been at the store? Before or now? No. After that happened. Who opened and closes the store? Two cashiers. Who? Active employees.

Who?

I'm saying who. Who are they? Cashiers Nasri Omar and Ahmad Zidane. And Ahmad Zidane.

And Asif Ayub.

And Asif Ayub. So they just didn't come today? Nobody. We don't know that. Oh, okay. We'll let him get his computer going.

Not today. It closed at 6.

Marcus. Can I give James my proxy?

i gotta go i pick up the keys oh you got my proxy and you need just rocks right there i'm surprised You had your juice today? Where your juice at?

I didn't say I needed it. That's a little. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Rhino's clothes now.

Is it downloading? No, it's on the access.

So y'all got it, Chief?

Tomorrow.

Maybe y'all please. Y'all had one meeting that y'all got to stay tuned to 7 o'clock. Y'all will be all right. If you still got to stay, they don't stop. They don't close tonight.

Was it able to download?

What's your pleasure? What's your pleasure? Attorney, what's the, what's the pleasure if they can't get this video?

.

The question is whether you think you need that.

Do you think that you need that?

.

Is it close to being presentable?

Okay. You want to call for the vote?

Okay. I had somebody come in from real time with the video.

Okay.

What's their ETA?

They're on the second floor.

Right.

And when they get here, will they be able to play it? Depends on what meeting.

Three.

Four meetings in one.

You'll get out of here no time soon. Because you still got one more meeting after this.

Yeah. I trust you.

You can give me anything that you want to.

That's what y'all are saying. Give me anything.

How long did he say?

I guess he was on the phone waiting to get her to come down.

We can actually have a call for the vote, because you're looking at that on the suspension part of it, where he gets ready to, and you all have clearly documentation of that. And so, if you want to proceed, Councilman, it's your pleasure.

What do we vote for?

Do we vote to revoke? Yeah, to uphold the police department recommendation.

Do we revoke the address as well?

That's what the lawyer said.

And Marcus, because on here it says suspension, but they did a new recommendation to revoke. So how do we handle that? Is that a substitute motion?

It depends on what the motion is on the floor. The motion on the floor is to uphold the recommendation from SPD. So the recommendation today in front of our face from SPD was to revoke. Okay. If you have further questions, to the extent that there was...

But if we want to include the address as well, that needs another motion?

That would need another motion. You want to include the address as well? You can do it as a separate motion or you could add it to the motion.

Okay.

You ready?

Yeah.

Attorney Edwards, a yes vote, we're upholding SPD.

That's correct, as requested, which, as requested, was to revoke the license.

Of R&W Consumer.

Right, R&W Consumer.

But we also want to revoke the license.

It still would be a yes vote once he makes the decision.

Right, of 4101 Hollywood, right?

Right.

My motion would be to uphold the Polish Department's recommendation of revoke and the address.

That would be my motion.

I'll second this motion.

So moved by Councilman Green, second by Madam Vice Chair. Any discussion?

Madam Chair.

For the revocation? Yes, sir.

Madam Chair, and to those of you with consumers, I really love consumers. I really appreciate all that you've done. I've been there for 40-some years. There, when Tex was there, everybody there, I've been there. It's a pillar in the community. But with what's before us today, if I did not uphold of Shreveport Police Department with whatever has happened and what we've seen and what we're about to see, once the video, then possibly by the time I got to my house, the FBI would possibly be at my door. because they would feel that I was taking some under the table or over the table, across the table, and I have no idea as to what else was going on. So I would have to make the motion to uphold the police department. be willing to work with y'all to get your act together whenever that comes, but on today, to keep myself out of trouble, then I have to go with police department.

Call for the vote. It's on the revocation of the address. Is that for a year? Is that correct?

That's the motion on the floor. Yes, sir.

And there's a real-time crime center with that if, in fact. I don't see it. I'm good. So this will be part of the question. Thank you.

Hmm.

Jeff, is hers web-based, too? Is hers web-based as well?

Pardon?

Yes.

Okay, so is it the same problem?

No, we have it.

Sorry.

Oh, he said, again.

What's that now? Citizens say they pay taxes to the street. Go ahead and take it. I would like to see us redesign them or something. Make them attach the pole.

Or make the pole taller.

No, you know what, I have to get the refrigerator next Friday.

a screw like welding.

Yeah, or use something like a hexagon type shape or something like that. It's hard to get.

What's that? Uh-huh.

Oh, yeah, they're good.

I love it.

What kind of kit do you use like for elevators?

Yeah, let me just talk about one of those type of keys, yeah.

You talking about P&S? You talking about P&S P&S?

Yes.

Yeah. That's what's coming up to your area. They do?

Yeah.

They say they got a street sign called Lovers Lane. They say they always take another one. They do. I think that's a nice one.

That's what everybody's saying on Facebook. Oh, yeah.

We're going to vote on your budget and your raise.

Richard.

Yeah.

I'll tell you where you need to go for a good hamburger in my district. Two Gullo's in the heck of it. Gullo's, right. Gullo's is on Highway 1 in Illinois Lucas. I like Julianne's. I like Julianne's. Where's Julianne's?

Yeah, Julianne's. Yeah, Papa's and Company. Where's Papa's? Over there. Y'all ever go to Juicy Burger in Longview? Oh, yeah.

That's what it used to be. You'll require a doggy bag. Twisted Rooster for sale? Yes. I wish something good would go in there. Where's that?

Twisted Rooster.

Twisted Rooster. I don't know why nothing goes in there. I didn't think there was anything going on with that.

You know Superior Grill's got a good burger, too. It's about like that city.

Because they use steak bites for the burger.

Yeah, it's good.

See, I like the barbecue.

Yeah, I like theirs too.

The brisket on top of it. That'll make me hungry.

Frank's pizza does. They cook it in a brick oven?

I'm ready.

Thank you.

Have you seen the video already? Come to the mic Carlos. Yes, the very first one I was notified about was the clerk sold lemon drop shots to a customer, and then I was notified again that the cameras were moved. Yes, this is after we went in there and took the pictures and told them that they were suspended, and after the state had told them they were suspended as well.

I'm going to go undercover tomorrow.

There you go. Thank you.

Yeah, yeah.

Yay.

SPD upheld, 7-0 vote. Thank you.