A Dallas judge is set to decide whether Deep Ellum bar must remain closed after complaints from local businesses.
Dallas County Judge Veretta Frazier heard more than six hours of testimony in the injunction hearing, during which witnesses detailed their experiences at Rodeo.
The complaint, from Asana Partners in Deep Ellum, characterized Rodeo Dallas as a local nuisance and cited "well-publicized dangerous and unlawful conduct" at the club.
Ben Riemer, an attorney for AP Deep Ellum, told Frazier since Rodeo opened in June 2023, it has done irreparable harm to the neighborhood, impacting businesses and the area safety.
Riemer alleged during the packed hearing Rodeo over-served its patrons, allowed minors on its property, violated noise ordinances, and failed to check for guns and weapons.
Joseph Ybanez, owner and operator of Rodeo, said during his testimony that he saw the potential in the Deep Ellum neighborhood when he signed the lease in 2022. He loved the diversity, which he said has been reflected in the bar's clientele.
Ybanez described his business as a “high energy” environment that offers something for everyone and treats everyone with respect. He said going forward Rodeo planned to wand down customers and put metal detectors in place. This summer Rodeo also installed bright lighting outside that works as a crowd deterrent, because it makes it uncomfortable for people to linger outside.
Lawyers for the bar also suggested Asana Partners was just trying to shut down a bar and a crowd they don't like.
Council member Jesse Moreno, who has been working with concerned locals to address crime in Deep Ellum in recent weeks, disagreed.
“Look, this is not about the genre of music that a club plays or the type of individuals that patronize an establishment,” he said. “Bottom line, this is about public safety and we have to address that first and foremost.”
Asana Partners' original petition was filed Aug. 8, days after the club closed its doors due to alleged lease violations. It later reopened before a temporary restraining order again closed the bar ahead of Thursday's injunction hearing.
Crime in Deep Ellum is again in the spotlight after a shooting left one person dead and multiple people injured Fourth of July weekend at Canton Street and South Good Latimer Expressway. AP Deep Ellum alleged crowd control issues and an environment of "lawlessness and chaos" from Rodeo Dallas contributed to the weekend violence.
In response to a summer spike in violent crime, DPD began shutting down certain streets in the neighborhood at 10 p.m. on weekends — earlier than the regular midnight street closures.
For his part, Ybanez testified he approved of the 10 p.m. closures.
Among the witnesses against Rodeo was Dan Murry, who co-owns the Deep Ellum bars Armoury and Ruins. On the stand, Murry said it’s the “moral responsibility” of bars and owners not to overserve, but said that's exactly what he's seen at Rodeo.
"It's always easier to prevent problems, than address problems once they become problems," he told KERA News. "That's something that the vast majority of places in Deep Ellum are able to do, and some of them aren't."
The judge also heard from police officers, including Dallas Police Officer Hannah Moore, who was injured while responding to a call at the bar.
Moore said she's issued at least six citations to minors inside Rodeo. She also testified the nightclub has two lines in front: one for general admission and one for “VIP”. During her testimony, Moore said she observed people leave the general admission line and pay to get in the VIP line where bags are not checked, there are no pat downs, and no identification is shown.
Ybanez confirmed the two lines, but added the VIP line also requires both visual and scanned ID checks. He also said any minors that have been admitted into the business did so with fake IDs.
Detective Andres Sanchez works off duty for the Deep Ellum Foundation and has worked in the neighborhood for about four years. During his testimony, he said police have to “babysit” Rodeo, with six to eight officers at the corner of Elm and Crowdus streets positioned on Friday and Saturdays.
Rodeo was closed this past weekend due to a temporary restraining order in this case. Sanchez said crime still occurred, but Rodeo’s closure made it easier for officers to patrol the district and spread out public safety resources.
Dave Wishnew, an attorney for Rodeo, said during opening statements the nightclub does not have control over streets in Dallas and does not have a duty to prevent crime that happens in the streets.
An injunction would come as a major win for people like Breonny Lee, president of the Deep Ellum Community Association. Lee said she's spent nights watching fights and drunkenness in the streets outside the bar. She called its potential shuttering "a difficult but important measure."
"I think it's important to get Rodeo out of the neighborhood, and I'm super grateful and proud of our community members standing up and taking a stand like this," she said.
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