District Attorney may seek charges against Allentown bar security who killed man www.privateofficer.com

 

Allentown PA May 4 2012 Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said an armed security guard shot and killed a man outside the North End Republican Club in Allentown over the weekend and detectives are still investigating to determine whether charges will be filed.

Michael Maurice Randolph, 23, of Allentown was found at 3:11 a.m. Sunday lying outside the rear door of the club at Eighth and Tilghman streets. The coroner later said Randolph died of multiple gunshots and ruled his death a homicide, but authorities released few details other than to say that they were talking to a possible suspect.

Martin said Thursday detectives from Allentown police and the county Homicide Task Force are continuing the investigation, which he expects will take some time.

There were 50 to 80 people in the club when this occurred,” he said. “Investigators are going to talk to as many of them as they can and when they are finished we will evaluate the case.”

Martin said the Republican Club is a private after-hours club. Only members and guests of members are allowed in, Martin said.

As far as Martin knows, Randolph wasn’t “a card-carrying member.”

Martin could not provide any information on the security guard, only saying he was licensed to carry a firearm and worked for a security company that was hired by the club.

Martin said he could not give details of what happened before the shooting or say if Randolph was armed.

Robert E. Smith, the president of the North End Republican Club, said this is the first time there has been a shooting there. He said the club hired a security team following a slashing in the parking lot a few years ago.
Smith wouldn’t say much about the shooting because of the ongoing investigation, but said it happened when a non-member tried to force his way into the club as it was closing for the night. He said the club operates from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., and has a disc jockey on Friday and Saturday nights.

He said the guard works for a security team from Whitehall.

Smith said the club has increased security because of issues with non-members trying to get in. He said anyone entering the club is frisked or checked with a security wand, and all members go through a criminal background check.

“The neighborhood has changed, so I opened it up to Democrats, Libertarians as well as Republicans,” he said. “We are supportive of the community and try to be very active in the community.”

On Thursday, several religious candles and a deflated balloon remained behind the club where the shooting happened.

Not all its neighbors are happy about the club.

Guillermo Torres and his wife, Teresa, have lived next to the club since 1988, but said it was never a problem until the past year.

As the club lets out in the early morning hours, guests will remain outside, sometimes yelling, cursing and fighting, Guillermo Torres said.

He said clubgoers will urinate behind his home and the others on Eighth Street and leave beer bottles on the ground. Torres said it seems like the rowdiness has increased in the past year when it started to cater to a younger crowd.

“They should just close that place,” his wife said.

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