Crime-ridden Augusta businesses could be punished soon

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta leaders are trying to send a message to crime-ridden businesses: nearby violence can lead to a lost alcohol license.

It was a topic of discussion at Tuesday’s meeting of the Augusta Commission.

In the news for weeks has been Smart Grocery on Wrightsboro Road.

Although it may not be the owner’s fault, there’s been a rash of shootings at the store – at least nine in recent years with two of them fatal.

The store happens to be near a cluster of high-crime apartment complexes.

Just this past weekend, there was one right around the corner from the store at Fox Trace.

Despite years of working together with the sheriff’s office and recently hiring extra deputies to guard three days a week, shootings continue around Smart Grocery.

A 24/7 solution is too expensive for them to stay afloat.

Smart Grocery property owner, Sae Pak, cited this past weekend’s shooting as an example of how the problem is the apartments, not the store. He said Little Caesars is leaving the small shopping center because of the violence.

“There are more problems happening around the property, not just our property, surrounding properties. Please. I would challenge any of the commissioners to come down to where we’re at. Spend the day with us. You’ll see exactly what we see. And then tell us how we can fix it,” said Pak.

CSRA CRIME COVERAGE:

The store owner and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office say they’ve been working together to tame the violence, but the Augusta Commission wants to send a message and hold the business owner accountable.

Because the Smart Grocery item was labeled as “discussion” at Tuesday’s meeting and the store owners need to be given a longer notice for action, the matter is coming back before the commission in two weeks with a recommendation for six months of probation.

This wave of accountability is also coming to the Olive Road convenience store in the Glendale community, as well as Club Rain, owned by Allen Voncelillies, who also owns L9, and he got into trouble over crime there.

Commissioner Jordan Johnson said: “If you take their license away for a year, I mean, that’s his livelihood, that’s his family’s livelihood. Just like we said with the other folks. It’s their livelihood, it’s family’s livelihood. We need to make this decision off of some type of equal standard.”

At Tuesday’s meeting of the commission, deputies and Voncelillies discussed the revocation of the alcohol license for Club Climax. Deputies are even pressing to potentially close their doors altogether.

While Voncelillies was already on probation for the Level 9 club, he says he was not on Probation for Club Rain and was given no warning about the accusations against his business about a fatal shooting that happened there.

There was a heated back-and-forth discussion in which each side accused the other of not stating facts correctly, such as where the shooting took place.

Commissioners are now looking at 6-month probations for all three of these spots.

We caught up with Smart Grocery after today’s meeting and they say they’re even willing to offer a sheriff’s office substation next door to combat the shootings.

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