Jimmagan’s Pub to stay open; state drops ‘public nuisance’ claim against bar

Jimmagan’s Pub received good news Friday when the pub’s staff heard the 20-year-old business would more than likely not be closed while the final outcome of the bar’s public nuisance case waited to be decided. On Monday, the news was even better.

The case against the business has been dropped.

“We have resolved this matter with the solicitor,” said Tommy Brittain, who represented Jimmagan’s owner, Jimmy Sheedy, in the matter. “They’re going to drop their nuisance action against Jimmagan’s and Jimmagan’s has agreed to close at 1 a.m. like they’ve been doing.”

Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson confirmed the agreement Monday night.

City spokesman, Mark Kruea, declined to comment on the case and whether or not the decision would impact any other future public nuisance cases in the city.

No more action will be required on the part of the pub. The case was resolved between Brittain’s team and the Battle Law Firm, which handles public nuisance cases for the 15th judicial circuit, about 4 p.m. Monday, Brittain said.

Jimmagan’s Pub at 6003 N. Kings Highway was celebrating the earlier signs of victory Friday night. The bar’s Facebook page declared at 1:23 p.m. Friday: “Jimmagan’s Vs. The World: We WIN!!! Make sure you stop by today for some massive CELEBRATIONS!!!!”

Three hours later, the business posted: “We are very much open friends! Come celebrate our victory with us!”

Although Brittain did not call it a victory, he said, “I think this is a good result for everybody.”

The resolution came after a request from the judge for an order he could sign Friday afternoon – a request that showed Judge William Seals, Jr. was in favor of allowing the pub to stay open.

“He felt really strongly that we had prevailed here,” Brittain said. “He made it clear that we had won, that the state had insufficient evidence in this matter and the court was going to rule with Jimmagan’s.”

During an injunction hearing Thursday in a court of common pleas inside the Horry County Courthouse, police said they were called to Jimmagan’s 129 times between Jan. 1, 2014 and Oct. 14. But of those “129 calls” for service, 49 were labeled “public assistance” – when officers would drop by on their own to “walk through” and check on the place. The public assistance reports didn’t cite any crimes or lead to any arrests, but they were still counted in the number of calls for service to the business.

Five of the calls in the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s report on Jimmagan’s were for alarm activations and five more were for “suspicious” people, according to testimony. Several other “calls” were simply follow-up investigations for other cases and for traffic offenses like DUIs or speeding cars, which just happened to be pulled over in front of the business – whether they came from Jimmagan’s or not.

The calls that drew the most response from officers included an Aug. 15 shootout between two documented members of rival gangs, a bar brawl between 15 people in June, five weapons law violations and assaults. Police said that Jimmagan’s staff was reluctant to assist in investigations.

Jack Stewart, tendered as a nuisance investigation expert in the hearing, told the court he believed gang members were taking control of Jimmagan’s with the type of calls the pub has had. He attributed some of the activity to Jimmagan’s late night operations when they were open until 4 a.m.

Stewart told the court there seemed to be an intimidation factor in play with the bar staff not aiding police.

Steve Sheedy, son of Jimmagan’s owner Jimmy Sheedy, told The Sun News Nov. 1 that they felt threatened and harassed by the police who would often drop in, whether called or not.

The hearing was held to decide whether the pub would stay open until its final trial on the public nuisance claim. The seemingly simple case started shortly after 11 a.m., but as the minute-hand of the clock on the courtroom wall ticked closer to 5 p.m., Seals told the crowd he would rule in the morning.

Lawyers received word that the judge was leaning in favor of allowing the pub to stay open on Friday afternoon and that the legal team for the pub’s owner was to draw up an order that Seals could sign. But Monday morning came and went with no order and no signature as attorneys on both sides of the aisle hammered out a resolution that wouldn’t require an official decree.

Attorneys for the owner of Jimmagan’s and the property’s landowner, Cynthia McDonald of McDonald Land Co., Inc., said their clients received a 10-day notice Oct. 20 to abate the “nuisance.” They’ve done that, the attorneys said at the hearing Thursday, with the bar now closing at 1 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. and no calls for police since that time.

The pub will continue to close at 1 a.m. under the new agreement.

A total of 439 people from as far away as Ontario, Canada and Ireland had signed an online petition to keep Jimmagan’s open as of 5 p.m. Monday.

Meagan Estep, a Jimmagan’s bartender, created the petition a week ago with a call for supporters to sign. “Our only request is to have the chance to prove to everyone that our bar is a safe place,” she wrote in the petition. “The incidents that we have incurred were caused by people we have never seen before. We do not accept this behavior from our patrons and we promise that is not the normal.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Jimmagan’s Pub to stay open; state drops ‘public nuisance’ claim against bar."