Pittsburgh Community Calls For Bar Closure After Stabbing Incident

PITTSBURGH, PA — Community leaders on Pittsburgh's South Side are calling for the closure of a troubled neighborhood bar after another violent incident there on Friday.

City Councilman Bob Charland and organizations that include the South Side Community Council, South Side Chamber of Commerce and the South Side Hospitality Partnership are asking Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala to seek a court-ordered shutdown of Capo's.

According to Pittsburgh Public Safety officials, police were called to the intersection of South 14th Street and East Carson Street, where they found a victim with a stab wound. They were taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The stabbing occurred after a fight broke out inside Capo's. Police found evidence of the incident inside the bar and evacuated it to secure the scene. Authorities are still looking for suspects.

Dozens of incidents that required police response have occurred at Capo's over the past few years. In August, Zappala threatened to close the bar "following a list of concerning events, most recently involving the sexual assault of a female patron."

Zappala was referring to the rape of an intoxicated woman who was assaulted and found naked in a nearby parking lot after leaving Capo's. A suspect in the case later was arrested.

Following that incident, the owners of Capo's acquiesced to a series of nearly two dozen demands Zappala made to keep operating.

The stabbing incident Friday prompted an open letter from Charland and the aforementioned community organizations on Saturday calling for the bar's permanent closure.

“Capo’s was already given an opportunity to continue operating under a consent agreement intended to address unsafe conditions," the letter stated in part.

"By allowing weapons inside, Capo’s violated at least three provisions of that agreement. The conditions imposed to protect patrons, and the community have been breached. The District Attorney’s Office must now seek closure.

“At some point, remediation stops being a remedy and becomes another postponement of accountability.

“We believe that point has been more than reached."

The letter called for Zappala to get a court order closing Capo's as a nuisance bar. As of Monday morning, the district attorney had not indicated what action he might take.