KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knox County District Attorney General's office said it closed Bebo's Cafe under the state nuisance law.
A crew arrived at 8111 Gleason Drive to board up the entrance and post notices after Judge Steve Sword issued the closure order on Wednesday due to "a homicide, shootings, fights and other violent behavior" at the bar, according to a release.
A petition filed by District Attorney General Charme Allen said Bebo's Cafe was the "scene of repeated shooting and other violent altercations over the past 18 months." It said the Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff's Office have responded to 68 calls for service at the cafe.
Allen issued the petition after a shooting in May. Someone shot 24-year-old Destiny Jones at Bebo’s Cafe early in the morning of May 15, and she died after a crash on the Alcoa Highway ramp to Neyland Drive, KPD said. Less than a year before that, a 29-year-old died after a shooting in the Bebo's Cafe parking lot.
The DA's release said "owners, managers, and employees of Bebo's Cafe are either unwilling or incapable of controlling the criminal activity occurring on the property, leading to an environment that creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm to patrons and the surrounding community."
It also said, "Bebo's Cafe operates as a haven for criminal activity, is known in the area as such, and is a continues threat to this community."
"Bebo's Cafe is a danger to the community particularly due to the violence that is occurring both inside and outside of the business, and we will use every resource and law available to combat violence in our community," Allen said.
This was the DA's office and KPD's 62nd closure in an "ongoing collaboration to make neighborhoods safer," according to the release.