The saga of the Krazy Koyote continues
– at least on a municipal level. A Tuesday hearing between city
officials and the owners of the Krazy Koyote Bar and Grill over the
status of its municipal permit was pushed back to at least October,
based on a possible change of ownership.
By Erin Taylor
Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – The saga of the Krazy Koyote continues – at least on a municipal level.
A Tuesday hearing between city officials and the owners of the Krazy Koyote Bar and Grill over the status of its municipal permit was pushed back to at least October, based on a possible change of ownership.
A separate hearing with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has been scheduled for November after officials at the agency decided to pursue complaints of operating a disorderly premise.
Meanwhile, an investigation into a suspected arson fire in August also continues – all while the Koyote remains closed to patrons.
Brothers George and Marcos Headley, owners of the beleaguered bar, are in the middle of negotiations to transfer ownership, according to City Administrator Jay Baksa. The Headleys had posted notice in August that they had applied to transfer the bar to the owner of several restaurants in San Jose. That move was stalled when officials with the ABC said that no transfer of the bar’s license could take place until regulators finish investigating past incidents.
ABC spokesman John Carr said the agency has filed a complaint charging the owners with operating a disorderly premises based on the numerous police calls to the bar. The November hearing will determine the fate of the bar’s license. If found to be a disorderly premise, it’s liquor license could be revoked.
“We have to deal with the current state of facts before anything happens with that license,” Carr said.
Several messages left for owner Marcos Headley were not returned by press time.
The city has itself been trying to decide whether to pull or suspend the Koyote’s business license after three gang related shootings and a brawl in which officers fired pepper-balls to break up a 150-person crowd, all since November.
Most recently, the bar was the site of an Aug. 17 fire, where racial epithets were found scrawled on a wall. The Koyote’s owners are both African-American. Investigators are actively pursuing the case as arson but have no suspects at this time, said Police Sgt. Jim Gillio.
Baksa said Tuesday’s meeting was pushed back while negotiations between current and possible new owners are finalized. He added that should the purchase go through, the new owners would have to go about their own process of filing for a business license.
“We can’t hold it against the buyers for the sins of the current owners,” Baksa said.
The city could still decide to place certain restrictions or contingencies on the possible new owners based on the Koyote’s history of violence, Baksa said.
The hearing between the city and the Headleys is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 26.
