Riotous Bar Brawl Brings Scrutiny to Central Station

A massive and unruly bar fight at Central Station has brought additional scrutiny to the establishment, which police say has been the scene of a troubling number of incidents recently. During an investigation following the incident, police say they discovered that the owners of Central Station do not have a current business license on record with the city. However, that claim is disputed by the management at Central Station, who say that they are up to date on all their licenses. 

Yesterday afternoon, Fredericksburg police hand delivered a notification of violation to JJ Nikitakis, owner of Central Station, informing him of his business' alleged non-compliance. However, Nikitakis showed police a document which he said was Central Station's current business license. Nikitakis also briefly showed the document to this reporter, but declined to comment on the matter in any further detail. According to staff in the office of the Commissioner of Revenue, a business license was not on file as of yesterday afternoon.

"Mr. Nikitakis indicated to [police] that he was in compliance with the business license regulations of the city and that he had paid the required taxes and fees," said Natatia Bledsoe, public information officer for the Fredericksburg Police Department. "Of course, we will be following up on that to verifiy if it is indeed true."

Officials from a variety of local and state agencies may be involved in further scrutiny of the establishment, say police.

"We are definitely looking into the activities at Central Station. Anytime we have an establishment which is showing a pattern of consistently requiring police response, we'll try a number of different things," said Bledsoe. "We'll check code compliance, fire standards. We are certainly investigating to make sure Central Station is within compliance."

Police responded to the Princess Anne Street bar around 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, March 26 after receiving reports of a large fight. According to Bledsoe, the officers were staged across the street at the Relax Inn parking lot for the purpose of keeping an eye on the area around the bar. Upon arriving on scene, police found a group of 30 to 40 individuals fighting inside in front of the stage. The staff bouncers were on the loudspeakers trying to get the combatants to disburse, however their appeals for sanity were ignored. According to Bledsoe, staff at the bar issued warnings over the loudspeakers that pepper spray would be used if the fighting did not cease. When even this warning had no impact, police entered the fray to attempt to break up the fight.

"Three officers waded into the scene, each made an arrest," said Bledsoe. "That type of police work doesn't happen a lot anymore. I'm surprised there were no injuries, that the officers didn't even sustain injuries."

Bledsoe said each of the three officers police discharged their pepper spray during the fracas. Numerous bystanders were treated for exposure to the spray, which mainly required flushing of the eyes. By the end of the incident nine officers had been called to the scene, said Bledsoe. 

Police arrested Woodbridge resident Sincere Al-Amin, age 33, Dale City resident Dalu Lyall, age 33, and Hyattsville, Md., resident William Walker, age 37, on charges of disorderly conduct. Al-Amin was placed in Rappahannock Regional Jail overnight, while Lyall and Walker were released on their own recognizance.