An auto repair shop operating as an after-hours club on the Northeast Side was shut down Thursday after the city of Columbus obtained a court order to vacate the property, City Attorney Zach Klein announced Thursday in a release.

Columbus police had repeatedly dealt with shootings and assaults at the property, located at 2084 Mock Road, in the last six months, including one incident in which officers saved a gunshot victim from bleeding to death before paramedics arrived, the release said.

Zoned as an auto repair shop and banquet hall, the property had been functioning as "Club Wadinasi," holding as many as 200 people between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., according to the release. Wadinasi means "free person of good birth" in Swahili.

The most recent report of gunshots at the property came on Saturday.

We secured an emergency court order authorizing @ColumbusPolice to shut down this violent after-hours club in a surprise raid today. It was an auto shop moonlighting as 'Club Wadinasi' - the scene of multiple shootings, drug dealing, and violent assaults https://t.co/smuaXnB18C pic.twitter.com/YrZymZsk8r

— Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein (@CityAttyKlein) March 14, 2019

"Shutting down this dangerous and illegal 'boot joint' is another example of our office using civil litigation to stop criminal activity," Klein said in the release. "... We're glad to be able to remove this scourge from the neighborhood and hope it can eventually be restored to its rightful use as a productive business."

Klein noted in the release that the property is within a half-mile of an elementary school.

The property owner is Gilberto Soto, of Powell. Curtis L. Holman, of the Northeast Side, is listed as operator of Club Wadinasi, according to court records.

A court hearing, during which the property can be ordered to remain closed for up to a year, is scheduled for March 22.

kstankiewicz@dispatch.com

@kevin_stank