Covington’s Alcohol Beverage Control Board has decided to forego revoking the liquor license for Zazou, a bar in the city’s Mainstrasse neighborhood.
Instead, the bar’s owner, Michael Mercer, has struck a deal with the board to increase police details at the bar through May 31, 2027. The decision comes in the wake of a fight culminating in a stabbing, which occurred outside the bar the night of Sept. 18.
The agreement requires police details at the bar every night of operation between the hours of 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Detail officers must also be present from 10 p.m. to close on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Two men, a bar patron and a bar employee, got into a fight just before 11 p.m. on Sept. 18, according to reporting from LINK nky’s media partner WCPO.
The patron suffered stab wounds, and the employee suffered other injuries. Both men were eventually transferred to UC Medical Center for treatment. The investigation into the fight is ongoing.
The control board held a roughly 30-minute public hearing on Wednesday to decide what to do in light of the stabbing. Members of the control board itself, which includes the city manager and the police chief, Mercer and his attorney, Alex Edmondson, and the Covington Alcohol Control Administrator Lydia Northcutt attended the hearing.
Northcutt stated the incident could have run afoul of state statutes aimed at preventing violence at bars and other alcohol-serving establishments. Northcutt also played a video showing a portion of the fight, which shows the bar’s bouncer brandishing a knife and fighting with two men.
The building itself is owned by an LLC called Covington Momentum, according to Kenton County property records, which bought the bar in August. Mercer said he had no affiliation with the previous owners and had been trying to reshape the bar’s culture, atmosphere and personnel policies. Mercer also runs Doubt It, the bar adjacent to Zazou, and expressed the hope the two establishments would in time operate in tandem with one another. Mercer admitted he had hired the bouncer involved in the fight when he took over the business earlier this year. He declined to be interviewed after the hearing.
“We’re continuing to do some of the training and some of the techniques and tactics that are crucial in just speaking to people in a proper way to de-escalate,” Mercer told the control board.
Mercer also stated that he hoped to solicit help from the police for future training and “video record it so that way we have it in our [standard operating procedure] library, so it’s part of the training on any new hires over the course of the year.”
One person, Steve Kilgore, spoke during the hearing’s public comment section. He said the two men fighting the bouncer in the video were his sons and that the bouncer was “trying to instigate it.” Kilgore left the hearing after speaking.
Edmondson, Mercer’s attorney, said that part of the reason Mercer and partners had taken over the bar “was to control the environment around their other investment, which is next door.”
Edmondson also informed the control board that Mercer was planning on renovating the building.
“It’ll be completely rebranded,” Edmondson said, “new name, new concept, new everything.”
Mercer stated the plan was to continue operating under the Zazou name until January, pending approvals from county planning professionals, at which point it will close for renovations. The new bar and rebrand, he said, would hopefully open up in early March. He had not picked a new name yet.
The control board members seemed satisfied with Mercer’s attempts to rectify the incident and make changes.
“It sounds like a new leaf is being completely turned over,” Fritz Kuhlmann, the resident representative on the control board. “And owe it to the community to keep in touch with you and see where we’re at.”
“These terms seem a good response to the incident while giving you all the ability to work through the issues,” said City Manager Sharmili Reddy. “Obviously, we want to see all of our businesses succeed [,but] public safety is a very high priority for us.”
The control board then voted to enter into the agreement with Mercer. The bar has a license renewal hearing in November.
