Elgin man sought in Bartlett bar shooting
Police are searching for a 23-year-old Elgin man in connection with a shooting this weekend at a Bartlett nightclub that left one person injured.
Bartlett police described the man sought in the early Sunday shooting at the Cadillac Ranch, 1175 W. Lake St., as a 6-foot, 165-pound black male with brown eyes and brown hair. Police released a picture in which the man sported short hair and a small beard on the chin, a mustache and other facial hair.
The police said no warrant had been issued for the man's arrest. They did not specify why this man was a suspect in the shooting.
The shooting occurred about 3 a.m. Sunday when, according to statements from witnesses, there was an argument between two patrons that led to the shooting outside the business.
The victim, described as a man in his early 20s, remains in stable condition after being shot in the back of the head, authorities said. He was most recently being treated at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
Village President Michael Airdo said Monday he was “absolutely surprised” when he heard about the shooting.
“We need to look at everything,” he said, adding that he doesn't want the village to have a “knee-jerk reaction” to the crime. “This is a serious incident, but we need to be reflective. All options are on the table.”
Airdo said as the village's liquor commissioner, he plans to review all police data of incidents at the Cadillac Ranch for the last two years and then sit down with the bar's management to discuss issues that need to be addressed.
“We absolutely are not going to tolerate this type of criminal activity in Bartlett,” he said.
“If indications are that criminal activity increases as the night goes on, then we need to take a hard look at whether or not we need to change the (4 a.m. liquor) license,” he said.
A Cadillac Ranch manager declined to comment Monday.
Airdo said bar management has been cooperative with the village, including a few years ago when former Village President Catherine Melchert met with them to discuss crime that was occurring at the time.
Assistant Village Administrator Paula Schumacher said the Cadillac Ranch is the only business in the village that has a Class E extended license. With an annual fee of $2,000, the license permits alcohol to be served at the establishment from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. every day of the week.
Schumacher said only two other license-holders — Bracht's Place at 336 Prospect Road and the Bartlett Volunteer Fire Department at 218 Main St. — serve liquor past 2 a.m. However, their licenses are Class A extended, allowing them to serve liquor from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. only on Fridays and Saturdays for a fee of $1,600 a year.
Airdo acknowledged that the village will need to look at the “economic development aspect” of the license, but maintained “if the 4 a.m. liquor license is creating an issue, then we'll look at that very carefully.”
Community Development Director Jim Plonczynski said the village approved the current liquor license when the property was annexed into Bartlett in July 1990. At the time the “restaurant and cocktail lounge” was called the Snuggery, he said.
Since then, Plonczynski said he has never heard “any real big controversy” among village officials over the Cadillac Ranch having a 4 a.m. liquor license.
Trustee T.L. Arends agreed but acknowledged that over the years some crime has occurred at the bar.
“The Cadillac Ranch has always been a concern of mine because of the liquor license, and it stays open late,” she said.
“The village just has to discuss it, and it very well may be that this is an isolated incident,” Arends added. “It deserves some thought and consideration.”
Bartlett police were unable to immediately provide detailed information about prior calls to the Cadillac Ranch, but Daily Herald archives show that in October 1999, a 24-year-old Aurora man was stabbed about 4 a.m. at the bar after an argument. According to the Bartlett police blotter in the past year, multiple arrests have been made at the bar, often after 3 a.m.
Anyone that may have information regarding Sunday's shooting should call Bartlett police at (630) 837-0846.