Rock'n Rodeo's license in jeopardy.

Byline: Scott Maben The Register-Guard

This summer may be the last roundup for Rock'n Rodeo, the rowdy Eugene bar that has a chronic problem with drunken, belligerent and violent customers.

The state wants to pull the downtown nightclub's liquor license for an escalating pattern of lewd behavior, brawls, assaults on officers and other problems.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission said Monday that it proposes canceling Rock'n Rodeo's license to serve beer, wine and hard alcohol based on 45 serious incidents since March 9, 2002. They include disorderly and intoxicated patrons, confrontations and fights between customers, and patrons refusing orders to leave the bar across Seventh Avenue from the Hult Center.

One night, eight altercations were reported and police repeatedly were called to the club, which also houses Koko Mo's Island Grill & Bar.

The bar's security staff has been showered with beer, punched in the face, bitten, grabbed in the crotch and shoved into a wall, according to police reports. Police and security personnel have used pepper spray to subdue patrons who refused to quit fighting, and police have made numerous arrests for assault, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, harassment, sexual abuse and criminal mischief.

OLCC inspectors and Eugene police met with club managers in February to discuss how to stop the problems, but serious incidents have continued, the OLCC said.

"The licensee has not demonstrated either a willingness or ability to adequately control the licensed premises and stop the serious problems from continuing," OLCC interim Director Karen Gregory said Friday in the agency's notice.

The license is issued to 7th Avenue Development Inc. Spencer S. Whitted is president and Annie O. Whitted is vice president of the corporation. No one from Rock'n Rodeo returned a call for comment on Monday.

From March 5 to April 5, officers responded six times for fights, assaults and customers refusing to leave the club's premises, at 44 East Seventh Ave.

In February, a police sergeant was punched in the mouth and seven people were arrested in a pair of early morning incidents at Rock'n Rodeo.

"It's clearly one of the biggest - if not the biggest - generators of calls for service in the city," officer Mark Flowers said.

The club's large size, the attraction of two bars inside with different styles of music for dancing, and its popularity among younger crowds all may be reasons for the large volume of police calls there, Flowers said.

A large bar fight with lots of spectators can pull five or six officers off the street, he said.

"While they are devoted to that call for service, they're not available for prowler calls, domestic assaults, drunk drivers, all other things still going on," he said.

Flowers said police have spent a lot of time working with managers to try to reduce problems at the club, and will continue to do so.

"I think they've taken some steps to try to address these problems," he said. "It's a really tough thing to do."

The problems are a recent trend. The OLCC documented 29 incidents involving drunken patrons, fights and assaults at Rock'n Rodeo in 1998 and 1999. The commission renewed the club's license in 2000 with a restriction that required the licensee to follow a plan to prevent further problems.

The restriction was ineffective, the OLCC said, and problems there have become more frequent and serious.

"We and the police feel we've intervened enough," OLCC spokesman Ken Palke said.

Club managers must request an administrative hearing by July 6 to dispute the cancellation. If they do not, commissioners may revoke the license as early as July 21.