GREELEY, Colo.—Greeley is accustomed to being on the wrong end of snobbery—in a state that likes to brag about microbreweries and wind energy, this town is known mostly for its rodeo and meatpacking plant.
But two Greeley brothers say a bouncer in nearby Fort Collins went too far when he wouldn’t let them in because of where they live.
Jason and Shane Jackson say the bouncer at Washington’s Sports Bar and Grill turned them away on Saturday because people from Greeley and its neighboring town of Evans had been causing “gang problems.”
“He said he could tell we weren’t gangsters, but if he made an exception for us, he’d have to make one for everyone,” Jason Jackson told the Greeley Tribune.
Bar owner Shane Belcher, president of CBI Enterprises, said in a written statement that the bar is re-evaluating its policy of not allowing certain people in.
“This limited policy was very recently enacted and is only in effect on Saturday nights from 9 p.m. till close to protect the patrons and staff of Washington’s Sports Bar and Grill,” Belcher said Thursday. “Given the best advice that we had at the time, we instituted this policy to help relieve a very real and dangerous problem concerning the safety of our establishment.”
But Belcher said it has since come to the bar’s attention, due to a “small number of complaints to the media,” that the policy might be unduly restrictive. He said the bar is now re-evaluating the policy.
“Beyond this, we have no further comments,” Belcher said.
He didn’t elaborate on the policy.
The Tribune says Brad Ianacone, a manager and bartender at Washington’s, didn’t confirm that Greeley and Evans residents were being turned away.
“Honestly, we just want a safe environment for our patrons who are looking for a good time,” Ianacone told the Tribune.
Shane Jackson said he could have gotten in because his driver’s license still lists a former address in suburban Denver. But the brothers and two friends went to another bar, and Shane Jackson says they won’t be going back to Washington’s.
“I used to go there all the time,” he said. “Now, because I live 20 miles east, I’m not allowed to go to a place I went to for years? It’s really frustrating.”
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Information from: Greeley Daily Tribune,
