DENVER — A Denver nightclub has been ordered to cease operations and close immediately after a shooting on its premises early Monday left one dead and eight injured.
In the Wednesday order suspending the business’s liquor and entertainment licenses, Denver licensing officials said the license-holder for Ultra Lounge at E. Hampden Avenue “willfully and deliberately allowed circumstances to exist which have resulted in multiple violent incidents.”
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Those circumstances, Licensing and Consumer Protection Executive Director Molly Duplechian wrote, include hiring unlicensed security guards and “not taking proper precautionary measures to prevent violence,” as well as failing to be properly licensed.
The person who now claims to own the club, Ultra Lounge East at 9755 E. Hampden Avenue, is not the same person who owns the building and holds its licenses, according to Duplechian. The order alleges that Dol Bhattarai, who previously operated Yak and Yeti out of the building, sold or subleased the premises to Dionte Wilkins without properly transferring the licenses.
According to Duplechian, Wilkins has indicated on social media he owned and operated the club for more than a year, meaning he is “running a nightclub serving alcohol without having properly applied and not having been vetted to confirm that he is allowed to hold a liquor license.”
“The Department has received information indicating that Mr. Wilkins may not be eligible for a liquor license due to his criminal history, and that he has intentionally and deliberately tried to circumvent the licensing process and mislead the department by characterizing himself as a manager and not an owner,” Duplechian wrote in the order.
Neither Bhattarai nor Wilkins responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Bhattarai told Denver7's media partners at the Denver Post he owned the building and had leased it to Wilkins about a year ago.
"We were trying to switch the liquor license to his name, but it was taking a long time,” Bhattarai told the Denver Post. “It should have been changed by now. I don’t know what happened. I am surprised.”
The order also alleges that the business has been serving food and providing hookah without proper food and tobacco licensing.
This week's shooting happened just after midnight, and police found a total of 66 shell casings inside the premises and on the patio from 45 mm and 9 mm caliber guns, according to the order.
No arrests have been made, but police have said they believe at least two groups of people were involved.
Crime
1 dead, 8 injured in shooting at southeast Denver nightclub
"A witness reported that security was lax during the evening of July 19 and early morning of July 20 and that security did not check for weapons before patrons entered the property," the order states.
In addition to Monday's fatal shooting, the order also cites two other recent violent incidents on the club’s premises.
In March, a man was beaten in the parking lot of the club and was later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the order. The person accused of beating the victim has been charged with second-degree murder, the document states.
“Officers on scene attempted to gather additional information from Respondent’s staff, but the staff were uncooperative and declined to provide information,” Duplechian wrote in the order.
In April, the order alleges, unlicensed security guards pepper-sprayed and punched a customer in the face who “indicated he had a firearm” and attempted to fight security. The customer was taken to the hospital with “potentially serious injuries,” according to the order.
Bhattarai will have the chance to argue his case as to why the licenses should not be suspended or revoked on Sept. 11, according to a separate order.
