A Knoxville night club has been shut down because officials say it is a public nuisance.
Club Dejavu is located at 2619 Chapman Highway. Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen filed the petition to shut it down because of suspected criminal activity.
Law enforcement officials raided the building Friday morning, with no incidents, deputy district attorney general Kyle Hixson told WBIR 10News.
"Club Dejavu has been a haven for criminal activity for really the past several months," Hixson said. "It has been a haven of violent activity, gang activity, illegal drug use."
The raid and closure of Club Dejavu comes after a month-long investigation by Hixson's office and KPD.
"This really culminated on March 26, when there was a shooting that took place in the club and out here in the parking lot," he said.
In that incident, which is still under investigation, police found some 55 shell casings scattered throughout the parking lot here, with bullet holes found as far away as Allen Sign, across busy Chapman Highway.
"There was a big hole here - 3, 4 foot-diameter foot here - and then a bullet hole down low," owner Tom Allen described, pointing to the glass window at the front of his store.
He traced a projectile all the way to the back of his store. From Dejavu's parking lot, that's more than a tenth of a mile, as the bullet flies.
"I mean, it could've hit anybody anywhere had it been during hours when we were here," Allen said.
Dejavu's nextdoor neighbor Disc Exchange also sustained broken windows in the shooting. The owner of that business declined to comment.
"Lawful business owners, just trying to run a good, clean, honest business, they're getting bullets through their windows," Hixson said. "That's just unacceptable."
He said places like Dejavu are only standing in the way of South Knoxville's redevelopment and that's why his office will continue to use the nuisance statute.
"Only in extreme situations, where a business owner is allowing criminal activity to take place and it's creating a danger for other innocent citizens, who can't even enjoy their neighborhoods," he said.
"Some great development coming and then we don't need to have that kind of thing in the neighborhood," Allen said.
Club Dejavu makes the 47th business the Knox County Attorney General's Office has shut down under the nuisance statute since July of 20-10. Those include Copa Cabana, a night club that preceded Dejavu in the same location.
The district attorney general's office has prosecuted the following 47 businesses under the nuisance statute:
1. Orange Bar
2. Deluxe Inn
3. Mickey T’s
4. Max’s
5. Hall of Fame and Games
6. Breakers Sports Bar and Grill
7.Speedmart Deli
8. Four Star
9. King’s Market
10. Magnolia Mini Mart
11. Martha’s Place
12. Copa Cabana
13. The Game Room
14. Seventh Heaven
15. Pipes & More
16. Hi Life Wonderland 2
17. Mystical Orb
18. Magic Touch Spa
19. Splash Massage Therapy
20. Crystal Spa
21. Virgil Leon Crawford
22. Willie Thomas
23. Willie Thomas
24. Bi-Lo Market
25. 923 Ohio Avenue
26. Quick Stop Mart
27. 3329 Fontana Avenue
28. 725 Witt Place
29. Muzic in Da City
30. Royal Inn
31. Rock’s Grand Palace
32. 1406 Brookside Avenue
33. 902 W. Woodland Avenue
34. 2207 Bradshaw Garden
35. 1011 Cedarwood Street
36. 509 South Harrison Street
37. Smile Spa
38. 806 Sidebrook Avenue
39. Green Spa
40: 3445 Compton Street
41: La Rumba
42: Millennium
43: Bottoms Up Lounge
44: Chalmers Grill
45: 1501 Vermont Avenue
46: 1725 Beaumont Avenue
47: Club Dejavu