Brick's Sports Bar And Grill, West Side Bar At Nearly Triple Capacity, Erupts In Violence Friday Morning
The owner of a West Side bar faces multiple criminal charges after shots were fired and fights broke out in the space early Friday.
Police reportedly found more than 270 people locked inside Bricks' Sports Bar and Grill in West Garfield Park when they arrived around 1 a.m., although the venue has a maximum capacity of 99 people, CBS Chicago reports. Shortly after the doors were opened and the crowd began to empty, shots were fired inside. Another man reportedly fired shots in the parking lot across the street before speeding off in his 1998 Lexus, which crashed, and fleeing on foot.
Around the same time, one of two apparently intoxicated women, who had been fighting outside the bar, got into her car and tried to leave, though several patrons tried to stop her, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. During the ensuing struggle, the woman's car struck several parked cars and one pedestrian, who was was taken to Stroger Hospital.
No one was injured from the shots fired inside the club, the Chicago Tribune reports. Backup requested by the responding officers included police from three West Side districts, along with specialty units.
Owner Bettie Johnson, 56, is facing charges of reckless conduct and license violations, according to police.
Loading comments… 
First Posted: 02/ 3/2012 1:36 pm Updated: 02/ 3/2012 2:23 pm