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The Baltimore Post has filed a Maryland Public Information Act request in an attempt to sort out the truth of exactly what happened at Tiki Lee’s Dock Bar the weekend of June 18. We believe our request seeking the 911 audio and written report of the incident from the Baltimore County Police Department is necessary because of conflicting reports about the violence that injured five people, one of which was sent to Shock Trauma.
In our first article, the Post reported on the issue based on information released by the BCPD. That first statement from the police reported that the original altercation started inside the bar.
However, that account differs from the statement released through Facebook by the owner of Tiki Lee’s Dock Bar, which included the following:
“… isolated incident that happened outside of company property,”
The Post strongly believes that public safety is a far more important issue than the interests of one business. That means an appropriate response should come from law enforcement or elected officials. When the Post investigated the recent violence at the Eastpoint Mall Carnival, we found the political response was, in our opinion, rather lacking in its truthfulness.
This WJZ TV 13 interview with the owner of the Dock Bar raises more questions about the situation, which, hopefully, our MPIA request will resolve.
The Baltimore Post requested some rather pointed information from the BCPD.
We asked if the Police Community Relations Council was made aware of the new business establishment opening in their area. The police response was, “They were not aware of this.” We asked this because establishments that serve alcohol should work with the community to avoid any potential problems.
We also asked if there were any politicians at the scene of the grand opening. The PD directed us to check with the county council to get an answer, which we then did.
Same old, same old, folks. We received no response from the council.
We also contacted Councilman Todd Crandell regarding the incident, but we received his usual “non-reply.” (Can you imagine what would happen if he did that to the Sun or the TV stations?)
Finally, we reached out via email and phone to our legislative representatives–Senator Johnny Ray Salling; and Delegates Ric Metzgar, Robin Grammer, and Bob Long. The only response we received was from Del. Long:
Buzz,
I’m not going to make a formal statement about Tiki Lee’s because it is not our policy to comment on an ongoing investigation. I will say that we are concerned and we are monitoring this situation. Public safety needs to be a top priority in our community.
Bob Long
We won’t comment on that. Rather, we’ll stick with our motto: “You read; you decide.”
The following Facebook image of Sen. Salling was sent to us by a concerned citizen:
What is interesting about this particular photo was that Mr. Salling reflected on the “Unbelievable fun scene up over here” (referring to the Dock Bar) but failed to render a comment on the violence that captivated both social media and the mainstream (or “lame stream”) media.
We did receive the following response from Johnny O’s Press Secretary:
The County Executive has stopped by to welcome a new business to Baltimore County like he does with others, but he wasn’t at a grand opening.
T.J. Smith
Press Secretary
Just to note, we searched the database pertaining to campaign contributions, since our county politicians have a well-documented history of fostering a “pay to play” environment. We found that the following politicians received campaign contributions from the owner of the Dock Bar:
- Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski, Jr., ($5,500)
- Sen. Johnny Salling, ($500)
- Councilwoman Cathy Bevins ( $80)
Let’s see if the pols put some moves into action for one of their benefactors, shall we?
We will provide more information on this story as details become available.
Before closing this article, we encourage our readers to review the following list of Town Hall meetings featuring Johnny O and his new police chief. According to Mr. Smith, the county plans on live streaming these meetings. We encourage you to attend and voice your concerns regarding public safety in our county.
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