Authorities Close Second Anaheim Bar Over Drug Sales

Anaheim police and state agents have closed a downtown bar that allegedly has been the site of cocaine and heroin sales, authorities said Tuesday.

The Tiki Bar, in the 900 block of North Anaheim Boulevard, became the second such area bar to be shut down by law enforcement agencies in the past week when it was closed at 3 p.m. Monday, Sgt. Steve Rodig said.

On Friday, Rodig said, police and agents from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control had seized the liquor license of the La Palma Drive-In Bar, which was in the same block.

The closures came after the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board upheld the state agency’s decision in late 1986 and early 1987 to close the clubs. A third area bar, the El Latino Bar, also was ordered closed during that period, but its appeal is pending. It is situated in the 500 block of South Olive Street.

“It has just taken this long for it (the license revocation order) to go through” the system, Rodig said, noting that all of the bars remained open while the revocations were being appealed.

The owners of the clubs were not charged with crimes, Rodig said. “They’re not involved in drugs at all; their business was being used by (other) people to sell drugs,” he said.

Rodig said the Police Department soon will target other clubs in downtown Anaheim for license revocation. “We’re making decisions on others throughout the city right now,” he said.

He described the three clubs that already have been targeted for closure as centers of drug sales and other criminal activities, some of which have spilled into surrounding neighborhoods.

“Most of the incidents that have occurred there (in all three clubs) have been narcotics sales,” Rodig said. “A lot of those have been narcotics that were found inside the premises.”

Rodig said police had documented 70 incidents “on or around” the La Palma Drive-In Bar between November, 1985, and March, 1988. In addition to the narcotics violations, there were weapons offenses, one assault with a deadly weapon and one assault on a police officer, he said.

The El Latino Bar had 133 documented incidents between January, 1985, and April, 1988, he said. In addition to the narcotics violations, incidents at that club included several robberies and assaults.

Comparable figures were not immediately available for the Tiki Bar, but Rodig said it also has been the site of criminal activity and violence.