The owner of Halftime Bar and Grill has filed a suit against the City of Guthrie, including four Guthrie police officers.
Fazal Khan, owner and operator of the downtown bar, and his attorney filed the lawsuit for a junction in Logan County and intend to prosecute civil tort claims against the defendants.
“There is an action that they (police) are selectively enforcing the law against Fazal Khan and his establishment,” City Attorney Randel Shadid said in a phone interview with Guthrie News Page. “I think that is not correct, and we will fight the lawsuit.”
Kahn is claiming the city and their police officers have harmed his business and reputation by harassment, stalking, unlawful use of police force, presence to scare clientele and customers, false and malicious prosecution, intentionally taking from the bar the person hired to card people at the door and general defamation.
Due to the pending litigation, City Manager Matt Mueller did not want to comment except to say, “I have an extremely high amount of faith in the Guthrie Police Department and know that they conduct themselves with fairness and integrity.”
The defendants in the suit include: the Board of Commissioners for the City of Guthrie, Police Chief Damon Devereaux, Lieutenant Mark Bruning, Sergeant Brian Crumb and Officer Erik Lamb.
“The lawsuit that they filed is asking for a restraining order against the police officers going inside his business and enforcing the laws. Well, that is bogus in my opinion,” Shadid stated.
Khan said the “targeted attacks” began after his divorce with Sgt. Crumb’s sister in 2011, according to the suit filed on Tuesday.
Among the accusations stated in the suit, Kahn says the defendants attempted to have an inebriated person make a false statement against him, have made false arrests, stalking him and the business and personal knowledge of making false police reports.
Kahn states he has contacted the police chief, city manager and council members about his concerns and that they have done nothing to stop further attacks.
“Sometimes people do not want to follow the law and they get mad when the law enforcement insists that it happen that way,” Shadid said.
The plaintiffs are requesting the injunction to stop the defendants from continued harassment and from malicious prosecution, permanently.
Kahn has submitted a tort claim and will have to wait for the city council to act on it in 90 days or less before being able to file the claim.
“Their action right now is to enjoin the police department from doing its job,” Shadid said.
Along with the injunction, Kahn is asking for attorney fees and filing fees cost.
Hmmm…
THE POLICE KNOW WHERE EVERY DOPE HOUSE IN TOWN IS BUT DON’T HASSLE THEM, OH NO MONEY TO BE MADE THERE.
hahaha so he opens a BAR one door away from the city police station and thinks hes not gonna have police around?? Hell he dont pay any of his employees anyway this dudes a jok..
yes, they even drive up to the hard times and sit at closing time.have you noticed they dont have “to protect and to serve on the cop cars anymore”
Hard Times has been shut down for quite some time hasn’t it?
I AM NOT DEFENDING THE PEOPLE WHO DRINK IN BARS BUT I AM DEFENDING THERE RIGHTS, I HAVE BEEN SOBER FOR 6 YEARS AND 8 MONTHS AND 17 DAYS. ITS STILL ALL ABOUT MONEY.I AM SURE THE COPS KNOW THE HARD TIMES IS OPENING SOON.
The police do bar checks, happens all the time.
Guthrie police do not serve and protect. They intimidate and harass. I moved away from Guthrie and imagine my surprise when I had car trouble one day and an officer in my new town helped me move my car, handed me a business card, and said, “Let me know if I can ever be of service to you.” Wow! I would have gotten a ticket in Guthrie for impeding traffic flow. I had forgotten what real police officers were like!
If this isn’t stopped, the police will be worse than ever. They’ll believe that they truely are above the law and that no one will do anything about their abuse of power and bullying of local business owners. I recently moved back to Guthrie, and I’m very scared that I won’t be able to stay here, if the police are allowed to be this corrupt and go unchecked just because they are “the police.” This bar is the nicest sports bar in Oklahoma, not just Guthrie. Fazal has drawn large groups of 20-30 somethings from OKC and really quality bands from all over. The place is clean, nice, and something our town can be proud of. Check it out for yourselves before they run him out of town for having a foreign accent. They aren’t enforcing the law. They are just showing up in mobs to intimidate him. They accuse him of things he has not done, and then when he says to write him a ticket they don’t. When people leave the bar to get something from their car, like a camera, the police will not allow them to return. Sometimes people have to call to get purses and other belongings returned to them because the police are trying to keep people out. These are NOT intoxicated or under aged people either. They tell them they have a noise complaint for every good band he books. There are more underhanded and unbelievable things, but I think all of that will come out in his lawsuit. Oh, and by the way, Fazal’s attorney was getting the FBI involved, but the city asked him to let them do it to “save face.” There’s a side to this story that everyone should know.
Wonder why Conna and the rest of the Dewarts have heartburn with the city. The city didn’t cause them not to pay there house payment since June. Maybe Fazal and help them before the house is sold in the Sheriffs sale.
Nancy and Michael are right on the money with their comments. I hate this god forsaken town and all its corruption. We need to get the people together and do something about this town and its police force. If we get enough people together to go to the local state government we might have a chance. We need to organize. Anyone have any suggestions.
@Stewie! Maybe you should talk to the good people of Guthrie. Because I have talked to business owners, current and past city council members, x mayors (not cant pay my bills bob), land owners etc and they all support the PD and it’s officers. It’s a few people that have an ax to grind with the pd or the city because of being arrested, getting a ticket or not getting there way. I also hear the PD is hiring soon maybe you can apply and see if you can cut it that’s if your haven’t been arrested.
I have lived in Guthrie less than a year and have not been personally bothered by police here, but it hasn’t taken long to hear many stories of people harassed by police here, except one occasion where I was tailed in my car for no reason except that I had just moved here and had out-of-state plates, which I did not appreciate. I do enjoy living here, but I am opposed to an overbearing police force anywhere (except inside a prison).
The entire system is corrupt and/or incompetent here: The police, DA’s office and especially CPS are horrible. I’m sure there are many conservative law-abiding citizens who don’t care, who think if you get arrested you must have done something wrong, but someday something will happen to you or someone you know. Then you’ll see that there is no such thing as “innocent until proven guilty”. You’d better stand up for your rights and get involved. Wait until your kids get taken away from you over a false charge, without due process, and are kept away for 10 months and counting even though the county’s case crumbles due to virtually non-existent evidence, or when two 11-year old kids you know get put up against a wall because they were playing with toy guns that were clearly marked with an orange tip, or when a cop makes up a crime and arrests you just because he still thought you were guilty for a crime he arrested you for almost 10 years ago (even though you were unanimously acquitted by a jury). Wake up you citizens of Guthrie, just because they don’t bother you now doesn’t mean you don’t live in a police state.
As far as Halftime, I have been in there just a few times. I am sure there are some illegal things going on there. Come on, it is a bar. But I’m sure the bad stuff is isolated to a very few idiots, as it usually is. It seems like a pretty decent place, well run with a decent clientele. It would be a shame for it to close down because of this.
This problem is bad here but not limited to Guthrie. The descendants of those who fought against the tyranny of King George now act like sheep while their neighbors are harassed and violated. It makes me sick and worried about the future of America when we allow our Constitutional rights to be trashed.
You are entitled to your opinion, but only the lowest of the low resort to personal attacks in an argument.
We have bein here 8 yrs no problems, we love it here, sure their are always a few knot heads in every town but i say if you dont like it, leave no one is paking a truck on your ass so you can not move! As they say when you need the police and they come to help you,you
kiss their butts and praise them but god forbid they bother you once in your life, grow up and get a life folks its not worth the hassle , and when you complain im sure they read this also so get what ya give…
I went to high school with Mark Bruning. For the record, I worked at a local pizza place with him. I’ve never been arrested OR ticketed IN MY LIFE, and moved away from Guthrie in my late twenties- 2005. TRUST ME folks, Mark is a racist, and a misogynist who only became a cop to finally stop being bullied. He harasses people and gets off on his authority and power-he tried doing it to me. I always heard very good things from my peers and people in town about Chief Devereaux, but the fact that Bruning is a Lieutenant scares the crap out of me. And I was thinking of moving back home…
We came down to Guthrie for a wedding in the recent past! All i can say is they are a bunch of Nazi radicals!!!! I have never seem or heard of any one going through what we did. Pulled over a block away, they ask you to step out of vehicle and then arrest you for public intoxication on the spot! AFTER GETTING TACKLED TO THE GROUND. In my opinion we were attacked by a skin head cutl! Thanks logan county