Duck's Place closed on State Street in the aftermath of a patron being gunned down on the bar patio in July.
SPRINGFIELD – The owner of Duck’s Place on State Street surrendered his liquor license this week in the aftermath of a patron being gunned down on the bar’s patio in July, and a subsequent police report that described the bar’s security as “lackadaisical.”
The bar owner, James Bennett Sr., has chosen to permanently close the business at 1146 State St., but his lawyer, Thomas Rooke, denied any negligence on the owner’s part.
“Unfortunately, it takes one person to ruin a business and the neighborhood,” Rooke said Friday. “And in the unfortunate incident that led to death of a patron, that was beyond his control, and was spontaneous and unpredictable.”
On July 18, Eddiz Walter, 24, of 131 Sargeant St., Holyoke, was shot to death at the bar. The case has remained under investigation with no arrest made.
There was also an incident April 28, when a bar employee brandished a handgun and fired a warning shot while chasing a patron, according to a police complaint.
The Police Department’s Vice Control Unit, following the fatal shooting in July, filed a complaint against the bar for “permitting a disorder, disturbance, or illegality... to wit, indirectly allowing a male subject, armed with a gun, to enter the bar without being searched.”
“The very ineffective or no security plan on July 18, 2013, IE bouncers at the front door not wanding and/or searching people for weapons permitted a male to walk through the front door of this bar, armed with a gun,” the vice unit report stated. “The apparent lackadaisical security plan for this bar, contributed in some way to a man being shot and killed.”
The police report did state that bar management and employees have cooperated with the police investigation.
The bar had only been open a few months at the time of the shooting, but had a long and troubled history under previous owners and names.
Rooke said Bennett had security cameras inside and outside the business. He has fully cooperated with the police and shared the film in the shooting investigation, Rooke said.
Regarding the police report critical of security, Rooke said there were “no prior incidents since he assumed management and ownership of Duck’s Place to suggest the need for a security detail.”
“It appears this was a deliberate attack aimed at a specific individual, and unpredictable,” Rooke said.
Peter L. Sygnator, chairman of the License Commission, said the board voted unanimously to accept the surrendered license.
“I am relieved and I’m sure the neighborhood is relieved in the permanent shuttering of this short-lived establishment," he said.
Rooke said Bennett is a lifelong resident of the Mason Square area where the bar is located, and believes in the neighborhood and its residents.
“At his age, he decided it was not worth his continued financial investment, and for the good of the neighborhood, he decided to turn in the license and close the bar,” Rooke said.