Six days after a man was shot and killed outside the downtown Portland

, the

suspended the club's liquor license Friday, citing a "history of serious and persistent problems.''

The commission took the unusual step of immediately yanking the liquor license hours before Club 915 planned to reopen for the first time since the Jan. 1 fatal shooting of Ruben E. Mata.

The last time the commission issued an immediate license suspension was in 2008 against a Salem club. The last time a Portland club had its liquor license immediately suspended was in 2003.

Portland Chief Mike Reese and Sgt. Pete Simpson, who supervised police downtown from July 2009 to July 2010, each wrote letters earlier in the week to the OLCC, documenting in detail a year of problems at and around Club 915, and urging its license suspension.

"At this point, we believe that an immediate suspension of their liquor license is necessary to keep the public from further harm,'' said Linda Ignowski, the commission's regulatory services director.

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19 serious incidents at the Southwest Second Avenue club over the past year, including fights, assaults, drugs and intoxication documented by the chief.

Three included gunshots fired outside and a prior gang-related shooting Sept. 11 in which someone was shot and wounded after a fight broke out between a group of Asian males and a group of African American men as they left the club.

OLCC staff and police met with owner Frank Chin later that month. Chin drafted a security "control plan" Sept. 23, calling for strict enforcement of a dress code and the removal of anyone wearing a gang-related symbol or colors; security searches with either a pat-down or metal wand detector; and searches of handbags and backpacks. The club would screen music promoters and call 9-1-1 when trouble occurred, the plan said.

"If they would have been following these, that terrible incident on Jan. 1 wouldn't have happened," said Christie Scott, OLCC spokeswoman.

"They shut me down,'' Chin said Friday after meeting with OLCC staff, police and a mayor's public safety liaison at the Police Bureau. "I don't think it's my fault. They want me to call the police if anything happens, and that's what we do. We followed the rules.''

Police say Chin acknowledged in September that he had a gang problem and expressed fear of retaliation if he excluded certain patrons.

"Mr. Chin stated that he was unsure of how effective the control plan would be, because he was 'scared of my customers, they carry guns,'" Reese wrote in his letter.

About 1:40 a.m. New Year's Day, Mata was killed outside the club after security guards had escorted a group of men out of the club. Mata was not an official security guard but was friends with the Top Flyte Security crew and had been asked to help that night.

According to police and the OLCC, Kevin Charles Moffett, one of the patrons escorted out, attempted to hit another security employee, who pushed Moffett to the ground. Moffett, police said, fired shots, and Mata was hit in the chest and died. Moffett apparently was not on the ground when he allegedly fired. A grand jury is hearing the case.

The club's license is held by Jin's International Entertainment LLC. Chin, managing member, has owned the club for 1 1/2 years and owns an Oregon City lounge. Chin said he had 13 security guards on duty and they routinely do pat-downs. He argued that the fatal shooting could have happened anywhere.

Yet the OLCC said five serious incidents occurred at the club since Chin signed off on a safety plan.

"The number and frequency of violent incidents at this premises and in the immediate vicinity show that Mr. Chin is not able to control the serious problems which have repeatedly occurred in and around the premises," the OLCC wrote.

On Nov. 22, the club removed a 22-year-old man for disorderly behavior. Police found him dead from hypothermia the next morning in a Waterfront Park fountain. Club staff did not allow the man to get his backpack containing his coat and a hat before escorting him out.

Chin plans to challenge the suspension to the state Office of Administrative Hearings.

Mayor Sam Adams supported the OLCC's move and has called a "bar summit" Tuesday for downtown club owners to meet with police and crime prevention officials. "We need their partnership and their good management now more than ever," he said.

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