WPRO News, reporting by Steve Klamkin
The Providence Board of Licenses is considering whether to shut down a nightclub following a double shooting over the weekend.
Two men were shot early Sunday morning outside the Van Gogh Lounge on Harris Avenue after Providence Police say 24-year-old Derek Fuentes of Boston pulled a gun and open fire. Massachusetts State Police arrested Fuentes following the incident, he is being held as a bail violator.
Police officers described the scene following the shooting as hectic, and plan to show the board members surveillance video in a bid to permanently shutter club.
“It was chaos,” Patrolman Kyle Richards testified. “People fighting, screaming, running, trying to get cars down the street.”
This is not the first time the establishment at the location of the Van Gogh Lounge has been in hot water for violence. In 2012, the license was revoked for a fatal double shooting; the punishment was later reduced following an appeal to the Department of Business Regulation.
The nightclub owner’s attorney, Peter Petrarca predicts a similar outcome in this case.
“Yet again we’re in front of the board getting chastised about an unfortunate incident which some moron thinks it’s cool to fire a gun in the middle of the street,” said Petrarca.
He says if the board votes to shut down the club he will appeal the decision to the state Department of Business Regulation.
The hearing was ordered continued until Thursday afternoon.
