Lawsuit: Detroit councilman Gabe Leland extorted alcohol, food from bar

Kat Stafford | Detroit Free Press

The co-owner of a shuttered downtown Detroit bar filed a federal lawsuit late Monday alleging City Council member Gabe Leland and an associate extorted thousands of dollars in alcohol and food from the establishment in exchange for promises of political influence.

The new filing is the latest twist in a lengthy legal battle that began in November 2016 when the co-owners of the former Centre Park Bar, 1407 Randolph, first filed a lawsuit against Mayor Mike Duggan and other city officials.

The original suit, which is still winding through the court system, claimed police harassment and alleged Dennis Archer Jr., former Mayor Dennis Archer's son, received favorable treatment while buying the building the bar occupied. The Monday lawsuit also names Detroit Police Officer Robert Harris and Detroit Fire Department Captain Calvin Harris.

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According to the Monday suit filed by attorney Andrew Paterson on behalf of Centre Park co-owner Kenneth Scott Bridgewater, Leland stopped by the bar in fall 2016 to speak with him about the ongoing issues the bar was having.

According to the filing, the bar initially signed a lease in August 2013 with the Detroit Downtown Development Authority.

The initial term of the lease, according to the suit, did not expire until Aug. 19 of this year and indicated the bar had the option to extend it. But in September 2015, the DDA requested development proposals from developers to acquire properties owned by the DDA to redevelop the old Paradise Valley area.

Centre Park also prepared a development proposal for the property but Archer's investment group, Gotham Capital Partners, was eventually selected as the winning bidder.

After Centre Park ownership started to publicly question the process, Bridgewater alleges the bar was retaliated against and was visited and ticketed several times by police officers.

Bridgewater claims during their initial conversation and "without being asked," Leland offered to assist him in addressing the issues Centre Park Bar was experiencing.

But according to the suit, Leland later in the conversation demanded "free entry into parties," as well as free alcoholic drinks and food whenever he visited the bar.

Bridgewater claims he asked Leland whether his demands were ethical and lawful, and Leland said it was “normal practice” for local restaurants and bars in the City of Detroit to "provide members of the Detroit City Council and other elected and city officials with free alcoholic drinks and free food upon request."

Leland demanded that Bridgewater also provide Leland’s close friend and confidant, Marcelus Brice, the same accommodations as well, the suit says.

"Plaintiff Bridgewater did not want to honor Defendant Leland’s demands, but felt compelled to do so," Peterson wrote. "... Bridgewater feared that if he did not honor Defendant Leland’s demands that Defendant Leland would make sure that Centre Park Bar would continue to be ticketed and closed."

Bridgewater alleges in the suit he feared retaliation because Leland said if he didn't honor his demands, it would be a "sure thing" that the bar would be harassed and evicted from the property. In total, Bridgewater said, Leland and Brice received more than $5,000 worth of alcohol and food.

"Defendant Leland and Marcelus Brice abused this privilege," the lawsuit stated. "Defendant Leland and Marcelus Brice often brought numerous guests with them to Centre Park Bar and often times ran up bar tabs that exceeded $200."

The bar eventually closed in April 2018, Bridgewater says, in part because of the alleged harassment.

Brice denied the allegations Tuesday, saying they were the "furthest thing from the truth."

"Why am I not a party in the lawsuit," Brice said. "Why didn't he make me a defendant and part of the 'shakedown scheme?' It's because it's not true. They are not supported by any evidence."

Brice said he's only been to the bar about three times and he was never a regular patron.

But City of Detroit Corporation Counsel Lawrence Garcia said in a statement to the Free Press that "any allegation that DPD Officer Harris or of DFD Capt. Harris were acting inappropriately by 'harassing the Center Park Bar into closing' are false."

Bridge alleged that the officer and captain harassed the bar owners and repeatedly ticketed the bar.

"Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Colombo conducted a trial to determine whether the Center Park Bar had violated nuisance ordinances as alleged by the officers, and his determination was that the bar had violated the law," Garcia said. "In other words, a court of law has declared the actions of Officer Harris and Capt. Harris legitimate public safety work - not harassment."

Garcia said the owners have previously made the same allegations and sought to include them in the initial lawsuit, but were denied.

"The new allegations are a worthless retread," Garcia said.

The lawsuit is the latest legal woe to hit Leland and comes less than four months after a Detroit businessman claimed in a separate federal lawsuit that Leland demanded $15,000 for his re-election campaign weeks before the August primary in exchange for a political favor.

In January, Leland was named a potential target in a wide-ranging FBI corruption probe involving local towing magnate Gasper Fiore. Leland, who was re-elected to a second term on council in November, has not been charged with any crime.

Leland dated Fiore’s daughter, Jennifer, for at least two years, according to FBI wiretap records, in which authorities said Leland appeared willing to give the Fiore family information that might help their towing businesses. FOX 2 News first reported that on at least four occasions, Leland voted in favor of city contracts and extensions that benefited the Fiores.

Fiore, who pleaded guilty last December to bribing a Macomb County official, faces up to five years in prison. His case is part of a broader corruption scandal that has ensnared at least 20 individuals, many of whom have pleaded guilty.

Katrease Stafford is the Detroit government watchdog reporter for the Free Press, covering city issues and the community. Contact Katrease Stafford: kstafford@freepress.com or 313-223-4759.

Joe Guillen contributed to this report.