Palatine bar where drug sting took place might reopen
Unless owner Mercedes Venegas can prove her bar is not the haven for drugs and gangs police claim it to be, Palatine may have seen the last of Mac & Nac Tap.
"I just think (Venegas) is over her head with the neighborhood and the types of patrons coming in there," said Palatine Police Chief John Koziol.
The bar, on Palatine's north side at 1643 N. Baldwin Road, has been dark since June 1 for reasons unrelated to accusations of illegal activity. Mac & Nac's liquor license is dependent on food service, which it lost when the adjoining Chicago Pizza Authority closed.
Venegas, the bar's owner since 2003, wants to expand into the now-vacant restaurant space and sought approval to do so before the local zoning board Tuesday.
The hearing centered on testimony from Koziol and other officers, who detailed a drug sting launched in July 2006 after the police gang unit were informed about narcotics activity in the bar.
Two undercover officers with the Palatine and Mount Prospect police departments said they first entered Mac & Nac on Aug. 18, 2006, and met individuals who arranged for them to buy cocaine. A series of cocaine purchases, both in the bar and off-site, continued through November.
Koziol called the transactions alarming because they were "cold cut buys," meaning there was no informant or an introduction from a regular patron.
"When you can walk in as a perfect stranger ... and just pick someone, that is indicative of a narcotics problem," he said. "We don't do many cold cut buys because we don't have much success in an establishment that's run properly."
Koziol withheld many details of the sting, citing an ongoing investigation. He did say that two of the individuals involved in the cocaine buys were arrested. One was sentenced to 12 years in prison and the other is a fugitive.
Koziol said Mac & Nac did a poor job of policing itself. In nearly 15 visits to Mac & Nac, the undercover officers said they never once saw security personnel or patrons get carded. They said they observed people coming and going freely through the back and on one occasion saw two men smoking pot inside the rear doorway.
"I couldn't drive to any other establishment in village limits and see something like that," said Investigator Fabio Calderone.
Venegas said those accounts were news to her and she was only made aware of the police sting on Monday.
"Had I known about problems or known there were suspicions or concerns, I could have done more at that time," she said.
Venegas said that up until a year ago, she hired security only for Saturday nights.
"I have a no-tolerance policy," she said. "Even someone who looks like a gangbanger (is kicked out)."
Several Mac & Nac patrons and employees spoke on Venegas's behalf. Each said they never saw anything illegal go on, and any problems were addressed immediately.
"There are less drugs than before when it was a biker bar with some pretty tough characters," said Jeff Theiry of Palatine. "It's like 'Cheers,' a neighborhood bar."
Venegas said she wants to make the former Chicago Pizza Authority area family friendly and bring in a lunch crowd. She said the bar isn't big enough to do her own food service.
Zoning board members voted 4-1 to table their decision until Aug. 12, giving Venegas more time to draw up an ironclad security plan, one that's "above and beyond standards because of the neighborhood," said board member Josh Wheeler.