License Commission in probe of Lynnway club

LYNN – A Lynn police officer is expected to testify Tuesday about a melee near the Cafe Tropicana nightclub on the Lynnway during which two or more victims were stabbed.Detective Richard Fucci, a member of the Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), has been summoned before the city’s three-member License Commission, which meets in the Community Room at police headquarters on Washington Street.”This is a continuance of a disciplinary hearing involving Tropicana,” said License Commission Chairman Richard Coppinger.”The police officer who is scheduled to testify was at the scene on the night of the multiple stabbings. He will give direct testimony and depending on what he says, it could lead to additional actions against the nightclub.”At the commission’s last meeting in February, Tropicana’s closing time was rolled back from 1 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. “We could suspend their license or maintain the rollback or both,” Coppinger said.According to police reports, recent incidents at or near the 649 Lynnway establishment include four references to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on Jan. 29, serving liquor after hours, disorderly conduct, failure to summon police and medical assistance, failure to notify the License Commission of an under-21 event, four counts of failing to cooperate with police, failure to register promoters, overcrowding, false advertising of closing hours, and lack of management and control.As a result of these incidents, Cafe Tropicana owner Gabriel Rivera was ordered to close the nightclub at 11:30 p.m. pending resolution of the allegations, Coppinger said.The fracas witnessed by Fucci occurred in an adjacent parking lot on Jan. 29 and involved 30-40 people. It broke out despite the presence of a paid police detail. Much of the fighting occurred in the Auto Zone parking lot. A lone police officer sprayed the combatants with a repellent that was later turned on him, according to police reports.Every police cruiser in the city responded to the scene, along with the department’s Gang Unit, SIU, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Department.