See also: Photos: Platinum 84 Strip Club Early Morning Shooting Hurts Two, One Possibly Critical
The most recent offense took place on Saturday, September 27, when 2 Live Crew, the vintage hip-hop crew best remembered for the lascivious tune "Me So Horny," was scheduled to perform for the second of two nights at the club.Both Platinum 84's Facebook page and the one devoted to 2 Live Crew featured photos keyed to the gigs co-starring the group's Christopher Wong Won, clad in Platinum 84 gear. Here's the first....
...and the second: A Platinum 84 post on Saturday noted that the final show was almost sold out -- but Lieutenant Gary Toldness, spokesman for the Federal Heights Police Department, says the matter that led to the officer's injury doesn't appear to have been related to the performance. Instead, the problems centered around what he refers to as a "bachelor party bus."There was some kind of incident inside the bar," Toldness continues. "Maybe someone touched a dancer and was asked to leave -- but he wouldn't leave. So the cops were called."
Upon officers' arrival, the alleged troublemakers "weren't really fighting. They were just being obnoxious," Toldness allows. "But as the officers were trying to investigate the incident, directing people to stay and not to go, the guy involved in the incident got on the bus -- and when they tried to get him off the bus, that's when the incident happened."
Specifically, a man struck a police officer in the face, injuring him severely enough that he had to be hospitalized.
Toldness isn't sharing the officer's name. However, he IDs the assailant as Cody Gardner, 25, who's been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer. Here's a look at his booking photo:
What about the August shooting? Toldness says an arrest was made, but the individual taken into custody was eventually released without charges.Continue for an update about the August shooting at Platinum 84, including more photos. As we've reported, Platinum 84's schedule on August 12 was teased by this Facebook photo....
...and the following text:Sexy ladies and ice cold Coors light what else can you ask for?? Platinum 84 is smoking hot on this Tuesday Night!!! Do you want to get in free just show this post!!It's not known how many people took advantage of this offer over the course of the evening. But by 1:45 a.m., according to 7News, only about ten customers remained.
And that's when all hell broke loose.
The station notes that law enforcers from several agencies, including the Thornton and Westminster police departments, responded to the scene after reports of a shooting.Two men were hit by flying lead -- one in the hip, the other in the chest. Fortunately, both of them survived.
Witnesses said three suspects sped away from the club in a newer model white or silver four-door sedan after the shooting stopped. By the next day, however, a man named Eray Wilson turned himself in to authorities, with another pair of individuals eyed as possible suspects.What's happened since then? Toldness says "we didn't end up charging Eray Wilson" due to "some self-defense issues. A total of five people were involved. It turned out that the shooting victims had been assaulting the other three guys with a gun. It turned out to be a BB gun, but Wilson didn't know that. He had a gun in his car, and that's when the shooting happened."
Although "Wilson was arrested for attempted murder," Toldness goes on, "the DA declined to charge him because of self-defense. But we're still looking at possible charges against the shooting victims, because they instigated what happened."Platinum 84 hasn't been a magnet for an unusual number of police calls over the past year or so. The two most prominent we stumbled upon prior to the shootings included a December parking lot fight involving men interested in the same dancer and a March incident starring a woman who was bothering customers and refusing to leave until the manager gave her a job.
Has this reputation changed given the shootings and the attack on the officer? Toldness doesn't think so. In his view, "it's unusual there were two incidents this close. Any time you have a drinking establishment, you're going to have a higher proportion of incidents than at a non-drinking establishment. But overall, it hasn't been out of hand. So I think it's just a coincidence. This incident was minor until the officer got hit."Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
