A fire that erupted inside a closed bar in Friday’s wee hours
was quickly snuffed
– but the racist slurs scrawled across its walls remain. Police
suspect the blaze could be arson.
Gilroy – A fire that erupted inside a closed bar in Friday’s wee hours was quickly snuffed – but the racist slurs scrawled across its walls remain. Police suspect the blaze could be arson.
Krazy Koyote Bar and Grill, a popular Gilroy nightspot, caught fire sometime before 12:45am Friday, firefighters reported. Sprinklers had already snuffed the flames when firefighters arrived, but not before the blaze consumed carpets, scorched bar stools, and sullied the ceiling with soot. Fire investigator Andy Holiday estimated the damage at $30,000.
Other damages were less concrete, but no less wounding: Racist epithets and ‘go home’ were sprayed across bathroom doors, wood paneling and the bar. Krazy Koyote’s co-owners, George and Marcos Headley, are African-American and have reported receiving harassing, racist phone calls at the bar in the past.
The bar was closed early Friday morning when the fire ignited. Division Chief Clay Bentson was unsure Friday if there was evidence of a break-in, and Holiday and Gilroy Police Officer Stuart Jaquez, who are investigating the blaze, were not available for comment. Bentson declined to comment on whether an accelerant was used to stoke the flames.
The fire adds to a growing list of woes at the Gilroy bar, whose license is in limbo after a series of violent incidents blotched its Church Street parking lot. Since November, there have been three gang-related stabbings and one significant fight outside the bar – a bloody list that has spurred harsh criticism of the venue, despite the Headleys’ insistence that they’ve cooperated fully with police.
State investigators from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control are mulling penalties against the bar in connection with a November stabbing, and city officials could opt to yank or suspend the bar’s municipal permit next month, in an administrative hearing. And the neighboring Foothills Foursquare Church, which rents space to Krazy Koyote, will issue an eviction notice to the bar next week, said the church’s attorney Jeffry Tone, citing $1,000 in unpaid lease charges.
“We go a long way to try and do things the noncombative way,” said Tone, “but we’ve decided to move forward.”
Even the Headleys’ attempt to transfer the bar’s license to a new San Jose owner was thwarted: ABC officials said no transfer can occur until regulators finish investigating the past violence.
Friday, George Headley photographed the sooty chairs and melted television next to the bar’s dance floor as humming fans tried to whisk away the stink of smoke. A former bouncer, who asked to be identified only as Jeff, gestured to dribbles of white paint trailing from yet another racist slur.
“Gilroy citizens did it to themselves,” he said. “All [the Headleys] tried to do was bring in the popular music … and Gilroy created problems.”
