ToledoNewsNow.com: News, Weather & Sports for Toledo, OHToledo After-Hours Club Shut Down

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - An unlicensed after-hours club in Toledo was ruled a nuisance property and is being shut down after police were called to the address more than a dozen times. After Toledo Municipal Court Judge Allen McConnell granted a motion for preliminary injunction, city crews boarded up the building and moved cement blocks in front of its doors Monday.

According to court documents, the building, located at 623 Junction Avenue in Central Toledo, is owned by Eastgate Provincial Properties, LLC. Jason Root is listed as a defendant. The building was used by the "Ohio Players" motorcycle club.

The city says it served as an underground drinking establishment that drew hundreds after closing time. It also drew complaints from neighbors, including the Padua Community Center next door.

"They were complaining about the activity, the noise, especially from 2 in the morning to 5 or 6 in the morning," said Paul Ringlein, Project Manager with the City of Toledo Division of Code Enforcement.

Police have been called to the club in the last year and a half for shootings, assaults, robberies, as well as drug and alcohol violations. A man was shot in the leg inside the club in August. In March, 21 people were arrested in a drug sting. One year earlier, in March, 2010, a man was beaten unconscious in the club.

"There has just been a lot of problems. They feel like they can just take over and do what they want at night," said Sister Virginia Welsh, Director of the Padua Center.

She says she found blood at the entrance to the center's playground after one recent shooting.

"We want a safe neighborhood," Sister Welsh said. "This is a wonderful neighborhood, and elements like this do not help."

She says she's ecstatic the club is being shut down.