COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus family whose loved one died after being sucker punched in the Short North earlier this year is praising city council's decision to not renew a bar's liquor license.
Gregory Coleman Jr. was punched and attacked by two men on Sept. 5 outside of Julep, a bar on North High Street.
Julep was one of 12 businesses that city council said should not have a liquor license.
Glenay Coleman, Gregory's sister, said she's glad Julep was on that list.
"We're just thankful, we're thankful that people are going to be held accountable across the board. And we believe that everyone should be held accountable,” Glenay said.
Glenay said this season has been the hardest of her family’s life, accepting they will never see her brother again. She says it’s especially hard around the holidays. Thanksgiving was the last holiday they celebrated together as a family.
"We had our first holiday without my brother, we have more holidays coming. It's unimaginable. It's just a pain that our family will never get over,” Glenay said.
Glenay believes shutting down establishments like Julep will help ensure safety on the streets.
“Shutting some place like this down, along with the many other places that are just dangerous to Columbus is a step forward and making Columbus a safer place and a safer environment so people can go out,H have a nice night and not have to worry about things like this happening,” Glenay shares.
City Attorney Zach Klein says the city focuses on businesses that have excessive dangerous activity to ensure public safety.
“Zeroing in on places where there's just outlier because of shootings, because of stabbings, because of fights, because of drugs, or a combination of all those where we have no choice, but for the benefit of the public safety and community,” Klein said. “The police runs the data, the shootings, the stabbings, and a lot of it is also complaint driven.”
According to the city of Columbus, there have been 93 calls for service to Julep in the past two years, 40 calls in 2021 and 53 calls in 2022. These calls include responses to shots fired, sex crimes, people with guns, OVI, assaults, fights and disturbances.
A spokesperson for Julep said at Monday’s City Council meeting the bar is taking steps to make the area a safer place.
"We have put in things such as making sure we do full pat-downs, we have four people on the doors at all times and people inside the building as well,” he says.
As for the Coleman family, Glenay says they appreciate the community’s support and would like to see more thorough vetting of security at local bars to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
“I think that they need to understand who they're hiring. And there needs to be background checks that are completed that are followed up on and that are done correctly,” Coleman said.