Of course some of you have heard The Pearl got raided last night by D.A.R.T and COJ city inspectors last night around 12:30am.
From Dj Ricky the DJ that night:
I am the DJ at the pearl on thursday and saturday night and yes i was DJing last night when this happened.
let me clear a few things up.
1) there was NO drugs found nor are we known to have such items.
2) they did find minor code violations while inspecting the club, but nothing that would put anybody in harm’s way
3) we are closed until further notice but of course hope to be open asap.
Please look at the Pearl’s myspace for updates. I am the number 3 friend on their page and if you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer anything i can.
we can not speculate on why we or anybody else was chosen for this.
we appreciate your concern and support.
From Justin The Pearl manager:
To everyone who has posted their love and appreciation for The Pearl I want to thank you personally. Yes we were raided last night. By DART, ABT, the Fire Marshall, building code enforcement and JSO. We have been shut down for reasons of building code violations.
Our owner has talked with DART today to find that The Pearl was being watched for two weeks by DART agents coming into the bar. DART could not give our owner evidence showing that they found ANYTHING illegal happening at our club. DART proceeded to raid us even after 2 weeks of investigation.
I personally had contacted ABT 5 weeks ago about having an officer come to the club and re-train my staff (because I have some new security staff, and laws change). I never received a call back. I had called at least once each week to see about getting someone to come out. Only to find out last night from an ABT officer that they were holding off on calling me back so that they could proceed with this raid.
As far as the code violations we will be working on correcting those as soon as possible. The Owner has spent all day downtown today trying to get things taken care of with the city so we can re-open. We will let everyone know when that will be happening. Thank all of you who are supporting us in this. It is a very unfortunate event.
from Christy Daily owner of The Pearl (taken from Urban Jacksonville)
I guess that i don’t really know where to start, but
the facts are this:
neither myself nor my club are involved in drugs or
condone them in any way.
after talking to the dart officials (at length today) i was
informed that they had been watching my bar for 2
weeks before this raid, and NOT ONCE found any
illegal activity… and last night, found NO DRUGS,
and did not and have not witnessed any of my staff
disobeying ANY laws.
they did in fact, catch 2 underagers sneaking alcohol,
arrested them, and admitted that my staff did not
serve them.
we were shut down anyway…
why?
because of extension cords, gfi outlets, locked
electrical panels (hello, crack-head city) a fire
extinguisher that was charged but needed updating,
an unpermitted water heater…. well, you get the point.
this is a permitting issue,
i live in the neighborhood where the code officers drive
by everyday, and god-forbid they find something
wrong, you’re gonna pay.
i’m used to that.
i’m used to the notices, and the code officers, and all
i try to do is keep up with the upkeep of a 100-year
building that i have worked so hard to renovate and
make a special place for the whole neighborhood.
but what i am not used to
is the actions that were displayed by MY city
last night…
a city that i was born and raised in, and have done
everything in my power to make a BETTER place.
i can say from my heart
that i try to live to be the best person that i can be,
i’ve made mistakes in the past, but i can look in the
mirror every morning and like myself, because i know
what my values are and i love my family and my job
and i believe in the good in people.
today has been hard because i got to see (again) the
uglyness that rears its head at times…
and oh well.
thats life.
peace to all that love and support my efforts, be it at
the pearl, or elsewhere..my homies :)
MORE INFO:
Urbanjacksonville.com
Jacksonville.com
Theouterbox.com
Metrojacksonville.com
Jacksonvilleconfidential
First Coast News
Fox 30 News