VIRGINIA BEACH — The owner of a Virginia Beach bar who has been the scene of two shootings in the past year and a half was granted bail on Wednesday after spending five days in jail for accusing her of illegally selling alcohol. alcohol and running a messy business.
Shani Yourman Davis, 40, owner of West Beach Tavern on Cleveland Street, turned herself in on Friday after learning that police had issued warrants for her arrest, according to her lawyer, Mike Joynes.
Although the five counts Yourman Davis faces are misdemeanors, a magistrate has ordered him held without bond. Courts in the city were closed for four days for the July 4 bank holiday weekend, so she was unable to get a hearing until Wednesday.
The bar’s license was revoked on June 1, according to a spokesperson for Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control. Three weeks earlier, two people had been injured in a May 7 shooting outside the bar.
Joynes said Virginia ABC began investigating the tavern soon after. The agency drew up a list of conditions for Yourman Davis to implement, including installing a metal detector at the entrance, closing two hours earlier, and adding additional security cameras throughout. the parking.
“We believe we met all of their conditions, but (Virginia) ABC and Virginia Beach police say we didn’t,” Joynes said.
West Beach Tavern was also the scene of a shooting in March 2022 involving bar patrons and police. It started when a client left the business, took an assault rifle from his car and started shooting at people gathered outside. Another man then grabbed his gun and fired back at the first. Two policemen then fired on him. Four people were injured in the incident. The assault rifle boss was sentenced in April to four years in prison.
A Virginia Beach police spokesman said Wednesday he was unable to say whether the arrest of the bar owner was related to either of the shootings. But he said police were still investigating the May shooting and were looking for two men believed to be linked to the incident.
Yourman Davis, originally from Israel, has a clean criminal record, owns the Virginia Beach Tavern and a restaurant in Chesapeake, and is the mother of three minor children, Joynes told District Judge Vivian Henderson.
Joynes argued that bail should always be granted in cases where the accused is not considered a danger to himself or others and does not present a flight risk. There was no evidence that she posed any risks while on bail, he said. Henderson agreed and set bail at $7,500. She also ordered Yourman Davis to surrender his passport.
West Beach Tavern first received a license to sell alcohol in February 2016, according to an ABC spokesperson.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com