Bob’s Tavern in Finleyville permitted to reopen, but will it?
Nearly a year after Bob’s Tavern was forced to close days after a fatal shooting outside the Finleyville bar, the business is being given the opportunity to reopen with a laundry list of conditions attached to its operation.
A consent agreement between Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh and the establishment’s owner, Rudy Zelak, was signed Monday by Judge Michael Lucas to allow the bar to open after it had been declared a “nuisance bar” following last October’s killing in the parking lot.
The two sides agreed to 12 conditions that include requiring security cameras inside and outside of the building, keeping a ledger of banned patrons, maintaining communications with local police to address complaints and restricting customers from carrying weapons inside.
The bar at 3700 State Route 88 in the borough has been closed since Oct. 14, when Walsh filed an emergency injunction to have the business shuttered just four days after Jaisen A. Irwin, 29, of Monessen, was shot to death while in a car with a woman after the two had been inside. The woman, Maurissa Larae Spencer, drove from the scene and Irwin fell out of the vehicle about a quarter-mile away on Washington Avenue, where he was found dead from his wounds.
Keaundre Crews, 30, of Fallowfield Township, is charged with homicide in the Oct. 10 shooting, which investigators said was preceded by an argument at another bar on West Main Street in Monongahela.
In the days after the shooting, a state police trooper positioned outside the bar said he saw what appeared to be illegal drug activity taking place. Trooper Michael Carcella testified during the Oct. 18 preliminary injunction hearing before Lucas that he saw multiple vehicles arriving with the drivers going inside for brief periods before leaving, prompting him to stop two motorists who allegedly were found to be in possession of crack cocaine.
Lucas determined during the hearing that there was enough evidence to temporarily close the bar, although it’s taken nearly a year for the two sides to come to an agreement on whether it could reopen, and under what conditions.
Under the consent agreement, Zelak will provide surveillance video to authorities upon request and allow police to enter his establishment to ensure he’s following the conditions.
He must also install an identification scanner and run the IDs of all customers through it before serving them alcohol. That condition allows for law enforcement authorities to request any information about patrons who are scanned, although it’s unclear whether the customers will be told that their ID is being stored and can be shared with police.
In addition, Zelak and all of his employees must undergo the state’s Responsible Alcohol Management Program that instructs bartenders how to properly serve alcohol to customers. None of the workers had undergone the training when the bar was closed last year even though the state Liquor Code requires at least half of them be certified through the state program.
The agreement, which is effect for one year, can be nullified if the bar breaches any of its terms.
Even with the consent agreement, it’s unclear whether Zelak will be able to reopen due to his liquor license being expired, according to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s online regulatory database. A PLCB agent testified at the closure hearing last October that the state was working to permanently shut down the bar by revoking its license, although Zelak had been permitted to continue operating on a temporary basis. The PLCB’s database shows Bob’s Tavern’s license expired in June 2020 and he was fined $750 for continuing to operate the bar during the emergency shutdown orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The phone number to Bob’s Tavern appeared to be disconnected and Zelak could not be reached for comment to discuss when he plans to reopen the bar or if he faces additional issues due to the expired license.