An incident involving a 15-year-old girl has forced Paradise Club owners to close its doors until July 5.

DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow, who also serves as the city liquor commissioner, suspended the liquor license of the popular bar located in the Days Inn, 1212 W. Lincoln Hwy., for one week Friday after police caught the minor inside during a routine ID check on May 1.

The underage girl entered the bar with her sister who is of legal age, said DeKalb Police Chief Don Burke. The owners were charged with allowing a minor to enter and remain inside the premises without a parent or legal guardian present.

The owners did not contest the charge and the suspension went into effect Sunday, he said.

Sparrow said the fact there was no defense on behalf of the club against the complaint and the girl’s very young age compelled him to administer a strict sentence on what he called “an open and shut case.”

“I know there are 18, 19 and 20-year olds who look like they are 21 and have authentic looking ID’s,” he said. “But at 15-years old I think you should be able to tell. It seems more blatant.”

Sparrow said it seems as if some owners are not taking enough time when checking ID’s and just looking for something that remotely resembles a genuine drivers license.

“This kind of thing isn’t going to happen anymore,” he said. “This girl’s age should have been an obvious factor.”

But Paradise Club general manager Marc Guarino said he talked to several people who saw the girl and admitted that she did look older than 15, but he’s not arguing the strict suspension.

“The girl was underage, we made a mistake and I’ll take the suspension,” he said.

In defense of the bouncers and bartenders at the club, Guarino said they do an excellent job, but it’s tough nowadays with modern technology that’s available.

“We confiscate more ID’s than anyone I know … we’re the toughest in town,” he said. “I’m not going to jeopardize a liquor license for under 21 customers. I don’t need the revenue from people who are under 21.”

Sparrow said he wasn’t sure if Paradise Club turns in more fake ID’s than other establishments, but he is adamant when saying there is more that is needed to be done.

“It’s not enough to turn in the bad licenses anymore,” he said. “We can’t just take the ID’s and let them walk away. We have to prosecute.”

Burke said the department does its best at trying to curb the underage drinkers from entering DeKalb taverns, even during the summer months when most students are not on campus.

“There are definitely less students here, but that does not mean we stop checking,” he said.

Depending on the night, Burke said their routine checks vary.

“Some nights we will go and check all the bars and some nights we won’t check any,” he said. “It all depends on when the shift supervisor determines if it is going to be a slow night or not and schedules the patrolling officers.”

Sparrow said the last liquor city violation happened sometime in 1987.