JOINING FORCES TO FIGHT LIQUOR HOUSES

After three separate fatal shootings in one week outside reported
illegal liquor houses in Charlotte, three law enforcement agencies
are joining forces to tackle the problem of such underground businesses.

Liquor houses aren't new and aren't easy to eliminate. Law
enforcement agencies nationwide have been fighting what are sometimes
known as speak-easies since at least the days of Prohibition. The
homes sell booze without permits, and often become a den for other
vices, with drugs and sex for sale.

The homes create trash, traffic and trouble for neighborhoods. Add
guns to the mix, and such homes can be deadly.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they had investigated three slayings
connected to illegal liquor houses in the past two years. That number
doubled in the past week, leaving three more young men dead.

Now Mecklenburg County Alcohol Beverage Control agents,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement
officials plan to convene this week to share what they know.

"We're going to try the best we can to do an inventory of where these
houses may exist," Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Deputy Chief Dave
Stephens said Monday. "Certainly the events over the weekend caused
us to really look hard at it."

The Street Life

Tish Barber, 25, stood on North Davidson Street Monday afternoon in
the spot where Sanchez Henderson was shot early Sunday
morning.Barber, who had two children with Henderson, said the
23-year-old man had come there early Sunday because two women he knew
were arguing and fighting at what police called a liquor house near
the intersection of 19th and Davidson streets, just east of uptown.

No one answered the door at the house Monday.

Barber said Henderson's death had nothing to do with Sunday's fight.
She said he fired a gun at a man, who returned shots, striking him in
the head. He died Sunday afternoon at Carolinas Medical Center.

Henderson lived the street life, Barber said, as she hugged their
8-year-old daughter. "He was my best friend," Barber added. "He
valued his family and his friends. He was a great daddy to my two."

On Monday, a child's brightly colored toy vehicle sat in the yard of
another reported party house on Dora Drive where police said Vernon
James Turner, 22, was shot in the head last week.

At another reported liquor house on Parker Drive, two pit bulls were
tied outside. A man picking up trash by the home said he did not live
there and disputed the house sold liquor illegally, as police have
said. Ty'Shawon Cousar, 24, was fatally shot outside the house
Saturday morning.

Police are still investigating those houses. They haven't charged
anyone yet for alcohol violations in connection to those slayings,
said Capt. Bruce Bellamy, who oversees the CMPD vice unit. But they
are just the latest cases on authorities' lists.

Just two weeks ago, N.C. ALE agents raided a home on Flint Street
just north of uptown Charlotte for the second time in a month. They
had already seized cases of beer and 16 bottles of liquor such as
Skyy Vodka and Bacardi Limon, a search warrant said. In the second
raid, court records show, they found more beer, liquor, cocaine and
more than $2,000 in cash. They arrested a 64-year-old man who lived there.

So far this year, Bellamy said, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police alone
have investigated at least 15 different homes. That doesn't include
houses investigated by Mecklenburg ABC and N.C. ALE agents. Still,
authorities say it's difficult to estimate how many other liquor houses exist.

Varied In Nature

In some places in Charlotte, liquor houses are small neighborhood
gathering spots where you can buy a plate of food and beers to wash it down.

But in the other spots in the city, they've become more
sophisticated. Armed men guard the doors, police said. Living rooms
are cleared for dance floors and DJs. Kitchens serve as impromptu
restaurants. Tables are set up for card games. Drugs of every kind
are for sale. And prostitutes and condoms are on hand for sex.

Officers find printed fliers that usher partygoers to the home.
Inside the homes, they often find guns, said N.C. ALE Supervisor
Richard Griffin.

Police have located such liquor houses in all kinds of places
recently, Bellamy said, including one in a Charlotte Housing
Authority apartment. This year, he said, they even busted a home that
operated during the day.

But illegal liquor houses are hard to stop, authorities say. If they
shut down one home, another liquor house pops up in another part of
town. Often they open in rental properties with landlords living far away.

If someone gets hurt, partygoers usually scatter by the time the
first squad cars appear. Witnesses who remain often say they didn't
see a thing.

Those who run liquor houses have used all kinds of excuses, police
said. Once, Bellamy said, suspects told police they were holding a
party to raise money for a daycare. But, he said, you can't sell
alcohol at a party without a permit no matter how good the cause.

However, investigators need to build a case before they can bust the
liquor house operators. Often that means having enough information to
constitute "probable cause" so they can get a search warrant to find
the drugs and unregistered booze.

They then must work with landlords to force evictions or show a
pattern of violations of city ordinances. Last year,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police started to train patrol officers across
the city on how to spot such homes and gather evidence.

A Year-Round Nuisance

The attention usually comes only when violence erupts from such
homes. However, police said, the neighbors of such homes have to bear
the burden the rest of the year.Neighbors grapple with crowds.
Criminal activity spreads. Property values can tumble.

A woman who lives nearby the reported liquor house on North Davidson
Street said the house appears empty during the week. But on Friday
and Saturday nights, she said, cars line the streets in a
neighborhood mostly filled with retirees and working families. Cars
block driveways and wake neighbors with their radios.

The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said cars park in her
yard. But she's afraid to ask them to move.

On Sunday mornings, she said, her family has to walk through beer
cans and litter when they leave for church.

She can't understand why police didn't do anything before Sunday's
shooting. "You can't drive through here and not notice it," she said.

Have A Tip

Authorities generally find out about liquor houses when neighbors
call in complaints -- or when someone ends up dead. That means
neighbors can be the key to stopping such businesses before someone
gets hurt. Police say to look for:

* A lot of people coming and going from one house repeatedly. At drug
houses, visitors usually stay for only a few minutes, then leave. But
at liquor houses, they tend to stay for several hours.

* Homes that are constantly hosting barbecues or fish fries may be
running an underground business. "How many cookouts and birthday
parties you gonna have in a year?" asked Charlotte-Mecklenburg police
Capt. Bruce Bellamy.

* Late-night noise from the same home every weekend.

If you suspect illegal activity, call the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Police Department vice and narcotics hot line at 704-336-8423 or
report suspected alcohol violations to 1-877-ALE-AGENT (253-2436).

What Is A Liquor House

Since Prohibition days, businesses have sold alcohol illegally. In
Charlotte, authorities say they can range from frat houses that
charge for drinks to homes that sell barbecue and beer every weekend.
A liquor house can also be a club with armed bouncers, dance floors,
prostitutes and gambling.