A bloody brawl inside the Hai Bar spilled out into the intersection of West 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard early Sunday, further straining a relationship with neighbors that has been troubled since the bar opened in 2004.
But those tensions eased some Tuesday, when the owners of Sushi Hai announced they will close their basement bar an hour earlier on weekends.
Bar owners Ken Griffin and Steve Naples told a meeting of the West Highland Neighborhood Association on Tuesday night that on weekends they will now give last call at the Hai Bar at 12:30 a.m. and lock the doors by 1 a.m.
“This gesture should get a lot of traction in settling a tense relationship,” City Councilman Rick Garcia said after the neighborhood meeting.
Steve Kite, 65, a West Highland resident for 23 years and a vocal watchdog of area liquor licenses, called the early last-call “a step in the right direction.”
But one resident, a 41-year-old political consultant who would not give his name, said the change was the result of “mob mentality by the association.”
He said he moved to the neighborhood because he wanted an “urban experience. I want to be able to buy a bourbon at midnight and walk home,” said the man, who has lived in West Highland, where homes are on the market for as much as $1 million, for two years.
When police arrived at Hai Bar about 1 a.m. Sunday, they found a large number of people milling around outside and 30 to 40 people inside. They also found chairs upended and “scattered tables turned over and broken alcoholic bottles.”
They found a blood-soaked towel on a table near a pool table. One man, cut badly on the right side of his face, left a pool of blood in the street.
Police dispatchers had alerted officers that shots had been fired, possibly between two cars.
District 1 Cmdr. Doug Stephens confirmed shots had been fired but said no weapons or shooting victims were found. Santiago Martinez, 29, was arrested on a count of possession of 1 pound of marijuana. Two others were arrested on outstanding warrants.
Stephens also reported that witnesses were reluctant to talk and that the investigation probably will end without them.
Hai Bar opened downstairs in Sushi Hai in 2004, with a heavy emphasis on drinking and dancing. The bar has three pool tables and hosts a DJ on weekends who plays a mixture of hip-hop, reggae and other dance music.
Naples is co-owner of the Heidi’s deli chain, as well as Sister’s Pizza and Mussels in Loveland. Griffin previously owned Poggio’s Restaurant on West 32nd Avenue. Naples and Griffin also own the Sushi Hai Bar in Conifer, which opened in July 2008.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
