City Manager Jim Connors was unable to ignore the threats posed by The Dungeon to the DeKalb community and revoked the club’s license March 7.

Connors explained that he personally is responsible for the health and safety of the city employees, and he said that the teen club presented a danger to patrons and police officers alike.

“It is not in the best public interest,” Connors said of keeping open The Dungeon, 1025 W. Hillcrest Drive.

Dungeon owner David Hana, who represented himself, did not call any witnesses throughout the hearing and had no evidence to refute the city’s claims.

City Attorney Margo Ely called various members of the DeKalb Police Department who each had witnessed incidents that occurred at The Dungeon since the club opened in October. The witnesses detailed violations of Chapter 32 of the Municipal Code.

Sgt. Wes Hoadley recounted an incident on Jan. 24 when he was sent into the club to count chairs on the orders of Lt. Carl Leoni. According to Chapter 32, teen clubs must have seating available for half of their patrons. Although only about 25 percent of the stools in the club were being used, Hoadley said he did not see sufficient seating as required by the Municipal Code.

Leoni, also a witness for the city, testified that he had at least two meetings with Hana regarding the need for sufficient security at the club.

Leoni also had totaled up the cost to the city for response to The Dungeon over the course of one weekend in January.

Using the computer system to determine the amount of time each officer spent responding to the incidents at the club accurately, Leoni calculated the cost of each officer’s presence at the scene depending on their personal wages. The cost totaled $1,640.28. Leoni also added that in one meeting with the club owner, Hana had told the lieutenant that he would pay for two off-duty officers to work at the club for two hours, but Hana did not come through.

In the end, Ely repeated her slogan for this case to illustrate the need for the revocation of the license.

“What is observed randomly occurs regularly,” Ely said, adding that if Hana is not willing to pay for sufficient security, then he does not deserve to keep the teen club license.

Ely applauded Hana in his venture as a young entrepreneur but remained reserved, commenting, “Right now it’s not working.”

Ely stressed that none of the 16 businesses that hold liquor licenses have required the attention The Dungeon has demanded, and she vented her frustration that Hana has not cooperated with the police in fixing the problems.

“I think Mr. Hana completely fails to accept responsibility,” Ely said.

Hana, on the other hand, contends that there have not been any incidents inside the club and that he is working on providing better security measures outdoors. He said that he has changed security measures already, ending the mandatory coat check that had caused the long wait to get into the club.

Hana also said, when he took the stand on his own behalf, that a pre-existing feud between the promoters and another group is what caused the violent outbreak on Jan. 18. Hana said he felt targeted by not only the media with bad publicity, but also city officials who he believes are coming down harder on him than local bars that have been admitting and serving minors.

“Everybody’s trying to shut down The Dungeon,” Hana said. “Everybody’s making up stories.”

Connors responded to this in his final statements, calling for citizens to report troublesome incidents at any area business that may be a cause for concern.

But Connors, who revoked the teen club license but did not fine Hana as requested by Ely, said that his concern is with the welfare of individuals and not money. The magnitude of the response needed for the outbreaks at the club were a determining factor for Connors.

“To have three large instances in six months is significant to me,” Connors said.

Connors said Hana has the option to appeal the ruling in Circuit Court.