3-8-17 dodge county sheriff’s office, beaver dam police move to revoke tavern’s liquor license

The Dodge County Sheriff says the process to revoke the liquor license of an establishment that has been the scene of criminal activity is underway.   Sheriff Dale Schmidt says for whatever reason Madison residents with gang ties have held gatherings Pop’s Eatery in Beaver Dam.  Last month deputies made several arrests at the tavern and stepped up enforcement this past weekend after receiving a tip there would be another party there Saturday.  But Schmidt says after issuing a press release Friday about the criminal interdiction, nobody showed up.  “They got the message that we weren’t going to tolerate that kind of criminal activity,”  Schmidt told WFDL news.  Schmidt says steps are being taken to revoke the tavern’s liquor license for the safety of the community.   Schmidt says the owners of Pops Eatery have accused the sheriff’s department of being racist because the people at the tavern are largely African-American.  “They are calling our agencies racist and saying there are no problems,”  Schmidt said.  “I will tell you that I have statistics, I have a video, all kinds of information.  We’ve had numerous contacts at this location.  This is criminal activity.”    Police believe these individuals have gang ties and following the February event, it is believed they were involved in a shooting that took place in Madison.