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Drug buys are alleged at city bar

Police are seeking to close Brothers’ Too

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com


WORCESTER— The Police Department is seeking to shut down Brothers’ Too bar after Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said undercover officers made several drug buys there over the past several months.

Information about the investigation and what Chief Gemme said were drug deals going down in plain sight inside the Wellington Street bar was sent to the city’s Law Department yesterday.

The city will seek an injunction in Worcester Superior Court declaring the bar a public nuisance and forward the investigation to the city License Commission, which could suspend or revoke the bar’s license.


On the Rocks, a popular Park Avenue bar, was shut down when the city took the same course against its owner, Olga Campbell, who subsequently turned in the bar’s liquor license a few weeks ago.

Undercover officers allegedly made several drug buys in Brothers’ Too over the past several months, Chief Gemme said. Two men were arrested this week on charges they dealt OxyContin out of the bar.

The Monday arrests of Richard R. Tuccio, 59, of Country Club Blvd., and Thomas J. Markiewicz, 50, of 12 Wellington St., Apt. 1, capped an eight-month investigation led by Worcester police vice squad officers and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Authorities allege the drug transactions occurred in the bar.

Police are still investigating a shooting and stabbing in Lord Vasil’s bar, at 371 Park Ave., early Wednesday morning. A 28-year-old man was shot and a 30-year-old man was stabbed. Police are treating the incidents as if they are related and are asking anyone with information to call the Detective Bureau at (50 799-8651.

Chief Gemme said the department is concerned about the “lack of cooperation” the management of Lord Vasil’s is giving police in the investigation.

“If the lack of cooperation rises to the criminal level, we’ll take action,” he said.

Several other ongoing investigations into drug dealing and violence at several “problem bars” could result in the Police Department asking for court orders to shut them down, Chief Gemme said.

“We have some active investigations going on right now that are being very successful,” he said. “We need to have a comprehensive strategy to deal with it. What we found is these problem bars are a magnet for drugs, guns and gangs. We need to be where these dynamics come together in order to be preventative.”

Chief Gemme could not name what he called the “problem bars” because of the ongoing investigations. What happened with On the Rocks should put those bars on notice, but some might ignore it, he said.

“What seems to be the case is the bars that are well-managed will continue to be well-managed, and the bars that we’ve identified as being problem bars in terms of drugs, potential guns and gang activity may not heed this warning,” Chief Gemme said.

When the department began checking into violent crime statistics, they showed shootings and serious stabbings had occurred at or around city bars since October. There were shootings at Magoo’s Bar, Club Red and the former Club Oz in the past several months. In addition, there were three stabbings at city bars. Not all of the incidents occurred in the bars, and no one died.

On the Rocks moved to the forefront because several complaints were lodged against the establishment for fights, drug dealing and gang activity, the chief said. That was having an effect on the other Park Avenue businesses, he said. In August, a police officer responding to a call there was hit over the head with a beer bottle.

Drugs are a problem in many of the bars under investigation. All types of drugs can be bought, the chief said, and it needs to stop.

“It really becomes an open market drug location. If we can, over a period of time, easily make seven undercover drug buys in a specific location, I would suggest that is pretty much an open-air drug market,” he said. “What we are really focusing on is those bars or clubs that have no respect for the law in terms of preventing this type of illegal activity.”

Capt. Steven M. Sargent, head of the gang and vice units, said many of the dealers in and around the clubs are street-level dealers. Some bars may think they are not responsible for activity right outside the club, but they are, he said.

To deal with problems at some of the bars, the department takes several steps.

Licensing agencies make sure the bar is abiding by the rules of the liquor licenses.

Chief Gemme brings in the anti-violence street crime unit to deal with the spillover that occurs from problem bars. That could include fights, illegal parking, driving infractions and noise. Detail officers at the club also work until 3 a.m., past closing time, to help with spillover.

Gang unit members go in and let gang members or gang affiliates know their actions in a bar are being watched, Capt. Sargent said.

Bar owners who need or want help from police can come to them, Capt. Sargent said. It could be gang problems, drug problems, both or something else, he said.

The last step is to bring in his officers, state police and DEA to go after the “real drug bars,” the chief said.

“There is no such thing as a safe haven for drug dealing,” Chief Gemme said.

People living near these out of control bars don’t want the problems that come with them, the chief said.

“They don’t want to see a melee. They don’t want to see the trash the next day. They don’t want to see the damage to their property or their motor vehicles. So there are a lot of quality life issues that are impacted by a bar that is not properly managing itself,” he said.

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