Tensions high in downtown Orlando after police sting ensnares drug dealers, bars

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tensions are surging in downtown Orlando’s entertainment zone, where workers and patrons were already anxious — and business is down — in the wake of a mass shooting Halloween night.

The latest flash point: A monthslong Orlando police sting of nearly two dozen downtown bars, announced earlier this week, that threatens them with the loss of permits allowing operations and alcohol sales after midnight. At least one bar owner is pushing back, accusing authorities of seeking to suffocate the city’s nightlife.

In addition to accusing the bars of about 150 city permit violations, the Orlando Police Department said it arrested 11 people for selling drugs to undercover cops. “Operation Night Cap” began in July, well before the mass shooting, and lasted into November, with officers testing businesses’ safety measures like weapons checks and ID scans.

The results of the operation were announced Tuesday, with police saying they have 32 total suspects, five of whom OPD said were employees of downtown bars. However, police have shared few records of the operation publicly or with the bar owners, who said they were blindsided by the sting and don’t even have a full list of the violations they allegedly committed.

City of Orlando spokeswoman Andrea Otero told the Orlando Sentinel that OPD is still working with code enforcement officials to compile the violations. A hearing on the code violations is expected in January.

“OPD is currently in the process of working with Code Enforcement to provide the information of violations that was observed during their investigations,” said Andrea Otero, a city spokeswoman. “Once the list is generated and processed through code enforcement, we will provide it to you.”

But that’s not enough for business owners like Scott Kotroba, who serves as vice president of the Orlando Police Foundation in addition to owning various properties downtown, including several bars ensnarled in the sting. Among them is Bullitt Bar, where OPD said an employee — identified as Derek Jackson, a “manager/promoter” — sold cocaine to an undercover officer. Court records show Jackson was since released on bond for charges of possession and sale of cocaine, but it’s not clear how police connected him to the bar.

Kotroba denied ever employing Jackson and said a lawyer has contacted OPD to request a retraction.

“We’ve never heard of him,” Kotroba said in an interview this week. An OPD spokesperson told the Orlando Sentinel in an email, “We are confident that all suspect identifications, which were obtained through thorough investigative methods, are accurate.”

As of Friday, an arrest affidavit was publicly available for only one of the 11 people arrested for selling drugs last month as part of Operation Night Cap: Christian Rivera, 24, accused of selling $80 of cocaine to an undercover officer at The Monkey Bar on Wall Street Plaza. The affidavit describes an exchange of money for two bags of white powder, with the officer recording audio and video as he and the alleged seller stood near the bar.

One business, Casey’s on Central, took to social media to address police department allegations by blasting a TV news station for implying the bar is “guilty of code violations and selling drugs.”

“Our team busts our asses to run a SAFE RESPECTABLE enjoyable place to come and relax,” a post on its Instagram page read.

“We have received ZERO VIOLATIONS. No one that is employed at Casey’s was arrested for selling drugs,” it continued. While OPD said drug sales took place at Casey’s, the agency did not accuse the alleged seller of being a bar employee.

The results of Operation Night Cap come as Orlando city officials grapple with public safety concerns after Halloween, when a 17-year-old gunned down two people and injured seven others. The incident came two years after a previous mass shooting left several people injured in what police said was a gang-related incident. The earlier incident sparked a number of measures meant to beef up security, from an increased police presence to checkpoints to search partygoers for weapons.

But some measures have been curtailed after the Florida Legislature passed a law allowing concealed carry of firearms without a permit. City officials, including OPD Chief Eric Smith, say the law has made it difficult to control the presence of weapons downtown.

Since the latest shooting, Kotroba said his businesses are “bleeding money” with sales down 60% to 70%, and his employees taking home a fraction of what they were making before then.

Previously, he said, when his businesses have faced alleged violations of their permits to pour liquor after midnight — typically, he said, for having the music too loud — they’ve been resolved within weeks. In this case, bar owners and operators knew nothing about the allegations until the conclusion of the sting in November.

“You’d think we would know because the goal was safety, but obviously the goal is to shut us down,” he said. “They’re suffocating the businesses downtown … why would you gather that data for five months?”

Interim City Commissioner Shan Rose, whose district includes downtown Orlando, said the city’s goal isn’t to shutter downtown nightlife, but instead create a safer environment for revelers and residents. Rose told the Orlando Sentinel she was concerned to hear undercover officers were able to easily get past security screenings and purchase drugs inside bars. She has requested a breakdown of permit violations, but has not yet received it.

“We’re doing our best to ensure that everyone comes into downtown especially at nighttime is remaining safe,” Rose said. “It’s our responsibility to ensure that we create a safety net over downtown to ensure our businesses can thrive.”