Brenner wants Attorney General’s opinion on hookah lounge

After giving Ifrit’s Hookah Lounge an ultimatum to come into compliance with a public smoking ban by Sunday, Pennington County State’s Attorney Glenn Brenner has lifted that order and will instead ask for Attorney General Marty Jackley’s opinion.
“It’s not my job to stop somebody from making a living,” Brenner said.
And, while Brenner waits for Jackley’s opinion, police will not be enforcing the smoking ban, Rapid City Police Chief Steve Allender said.
“It appears that he (Brenner) is trying to work out a resolution with Ifrit’s attorney, so we’re on standby waiting for direction from his office,” Allender said.
Mayor Sam Kooiker, however, believes the business at 725 St. Joseph St. is operating against the law.
“We have the synthetic Pied Piper operating in downtown Rapid City, and they don’t show any signs of letting up, and it’s time for the city to address the problem,” Kooiker said.
Last week the city council voted 10-0 to deny the transfers of Ifrit’s beer and wine licenses to a new corporation, although the request for the transfer was withdrawn.
The council’s action came shortly after Ifrit’s corporate attorney, Stephen Wesolick, said his clients were withdrawing the request at the Feb. 22 council meeting. Ifrit’s is operating with previously granted licenses and can continue to do so until they come up for renewal later this year.
Kooiker said the recent seizure of synthetic drugs at Ifrit’s by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team on Jan. 19 also contributed to the council’s decision.
The council was well within its rights to consider the totality of the circumstances surrounding the business and act, the mayor said.
“There were issues relating to underage drinking over the holidays, and there also is the issue relating to synthetic drugs,” said Kooiker.
Kooiker also provided the council with copies of correspondence from Brenner and Police Chief Steve Allender raising questions about the business’ suitability.
Allender notified Ifrit’s in early February that he would advise the council not to transfer the businesses beer and wine licenses because of the UNET investigation and an alleged underage drinking incident.
Brenner notified Kooiker in a Feb. 13 letter that he had asked Ifrit’s to comply with the smoking ban. He also referred to the UNET investigation into the sale of synthetic drugs and the alcohol violation.
Brian Winckel, a co-owner of Ifrit’s, was charged with a misdemeanor for maintaining a place to violate beverage laws in late January. Winckel has not been arraigned on the charge, said John Murphy, Winckel’s attorney.
The accusation is related to a New Year’s Eve event at Ifrit’s where a promoter snapped a photo of two underage women holding a champagne bottle and posted it on Facebook, according to Murphy.
The promoter of the party, Kelly Phillips, is charged with providing alcohol to someone under 21, Murphy said. The women were 19- and 20-years-old, he said.
Murphy and Wesolick stressed that no charges have been filed against their clients related to synthetic drugs in the six weeks since UNET seized items at Ifrit’s.
“No bath salts were removed,” Murphy said. “They did not sell bath salts…Nothing else has happened in regard to alleged synthetic marijuana or incense charges.”
Both Murphy and Wesolick said the city council has judged their clients without waiting for the outcome of any legal actions.
“Let’s not try these guys in public,” Wesolick said.
Winckel and Desmond are entitled to due process, he said.
“The action by the council was not only unnecessary, but designed to put my clients in a position of having to defend themselves in public,” Wesolick said.
The allegations the council used as a reason to deny the license transfers are unsubstantiated, he emphasized.
“It’s an unwarranted abuse of their discretion on the license,” Wesolick said.
Wesolick and Murphy compare the treatment Ifrit’s received from the city council with the council’s response to accusations of fraud at the landfill levied against Fish Garbage Service in 2009.
In that case, the council refused to renew the company’s commercial haulers license on the basis of the accusations.
None of the six individuals charged in the resulting criminal cases was ever convicted. A civil suit is still ongoing in the case.
Murphy said the city appears determined to send a message that it will run a business into ground based upon a mere allegation, before letting the judicial process go forward or the facts are established.
“The city and the county spent hundreds of thousands on Fish Garbage and not a single conviction,” Murphy said. “Here they’re doing the same thing over again…Who’s next.”
Kooiker said he stands firm on his belief that Ifrit’s has sold synthetic drugs. He also dismisses comparing the case to the Fish Garbage case.
“They were selling synthetic drugs over the counter,” Kooiker said.
There are two “big rain clouds” ahead for the hookah lounge, according to Kooiker.
Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s recent signing of the synthetic drug law and Brenner’s focus on the smoking ban.
“If Hookah’s want to dump their drugs at the landfill for free, I’m sure that can be arranged under the manure classification; it would probably fit under the classification of manure,” Kooiker said.
At last week’s council meeting, Kooiker mentioned stopping in at Ifrit’s during a police ride-along in December.
“I came out smelling like a cranberry,” Kooiker said at the council meeting before advising Wesolick that his client’s should seek another line of work.
In the meantime, Brenner has agreed to ask Jackley to examine whether smoking shishah tobacco violates the state’s smoking ban.