On Wednesday, February 3, Mayor Lester M. Miller notified the owners of Pin Strikes Bowling that Macon-Bibb County had received numerous complaints and been made aware of videos of large groups of people fighting inside and outside the business, and a lack of adherence to COVID-19 guidelines.
“This is more than just a legal compliance issue for me. The reports and videos I’ve received have been very concerning on many levels, so we need Pin Strikes to take action now to prevent someone from being seriously hurt,” says Mayor Miller. “We’re serving this notice to make it very clear we expect businesses in our community to help protect people’s safety, whether that’s in how they serve alcohol, how many people they serve at one time, not allowing children to be unsupervised, and helping slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Reports include groups of minors and teenagers being dropped off and left without adult supervision for several hours, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. Video footage shows large brawls and fistfights happening both inside and in front of the business, reportedly over the course of several weekends.
The letter notifies Pin Strikes that both Macon-Bibb County and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office has been made aware of potential violations of current laws, reminds them of those applicable laws, and points out the potential punishment for violating those laws. That includes the County Nuisance Law, County Alcohol Control Law, and Governor Kemp’s Executive Orders.
Violations of these laws could include things (depending on the violation) like:
- limiting the business’ days or hours of operation,
- limiting customer capacity,
- revoking the business’ alcohol license temporarily or permanently,
- closure of the business throughout Georgia’s public health emergency,
- imposing conditions on the continued licensing of the business, and/or
- citing them for a misdemeanor.
As part of the notice, Macon-Bibb County encourages Pin Strikes to take actions that would immediately address the issues. This includes preventing the dropping off of unsupervised minors, preventing loitering outside the business, reinforcing alcohol control measures, ensuring no weapons are brought on the premise, complying with the Governor’s Executive Orders, limiting occupancy levels, and reviewing all security practices.
“By implementing these reasonable protocols, it is our sincere hope that pin Strikes can prosper for years to come as a clean entertainment for adults and families alike, free from violence and danger,” Mayor Miller wrote in the letter.
