Russian Lady agrees to close its doors for second time in as many months following shooting outside club
The Russian Lady has temporarily closed its doors following a shooting outside the Hartford club last weekend that comes only weeks after the bar reopened in the wake of an alleged assault last month by a security guard.
The shooting, reported on Dec. 23 just before 12:50 a.m., left a man in his 20s in critical but stable condition, according to the Hartford Police Department. Following the incident, bar ownership agreed to close its doors until after the New Year with a few exceptions.
“The Russian Lady has agreed to voluntarily close to the general public this weekend, through the New Year’s holiday, with the exception of a few small private events and during upcoming UConn games at the XL Center,” Kaitlyn Krasselt, spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “The business is cooperating with Liquor Control as they review details of the incident and determine if further action is required. Police remain the primary agency investigating the shooting.
“At this time The Russian Lady’s license is not suspended,” Krasselt continued.
According to the DCP, The Russian Lady, which is located at 191 Ann Uccello St. in Hartford, reopened on Dec. 8 following a 16-day voluntary suspension in the wake of a video that went viral on social media showing a patron allegedly being assaulted by a security guard in the bar on Nov. 4. A lawsuit filed by Hartford-based attorney DeVaughn Ward against the bar’s ownership, its liquor license holder and multiple staff members contends that employees lied about the alleged assault when Hartford police officers responded to the club. No charges were filed at the time.
The video of the attack was posted and reposted by numerous individuals later in November, prompting Hartford police and the DCP to open investigations.
Video that captured the incident shows a patron of the bar — identified in the lawsuit as 28-year-old Joshua Gilmore — being dragged down a set of stairs before being brought to his feet by men with shirts that read “Security.” Gilmore appears to be talking to one of the security members before he is punched twice, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs, the video shows. He can then be seen motionless at the bottom of the stairs with his head cocked to the side.
Ward contends his client lost consciousness during the incident and suffered a laceration to the back of his head that was just over 3 inches long. Gilmore, who was also bleeding from the mouth, was taken to Hartford Hospital where he was treated for a concussion, a fractured elbow and abrasions scattered throughout his body, the lawsuit alleges.
Krasselt this week said The Russian Lady was able to reopen on Dec. 8 after entering into a safety agreement with the DCP.
“They were required to hire an independent security agency to act as security,” Krasselt said. “They are able to employ their own background-checked security personnel in addition to the independent security firm, as long as at least half and a supervisor are from the independent firm, and they were required to terminate the employee involved in the incident on video.”
The bar was also required to “update their policy handbook to clearly state no employee or independent security personnel shall touch or otherwise use physical force on a patron,” Krasselt continued. “There were a number of other requirements related to security cameras, metal detectors and signage.
“The document outlining the agreement is unavailable at this time, as the enforcement case remains open,” she said.