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Columbus reaches agreement with Hilltop sports bar to close by end of 2024

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Columbus reaches agreement with Hilltop sports bar to close by end of 2024

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A Columbus Hilltop bar that was the scene of a double homicide will shut down by the end of this year under an agreement reached with the Columbus City Attorney’s office.

Cain’s Sports Bar, located at 3475 Sullivant Ave., will close its doors by the end of 2024 as part of an agreement with the city after multiple shootings, including a 2022 double homicide where two other victims were injured.

On July 16, 2022, 30-year-old Denver Spencer and 39-year-old Daylan Hawkins died after being shot during a fight outside the bar. In March 2023, three other people were injured in a shooting outside the bar.

City Attorney Zach Klein’s office had previously sought a court order requiring the bar to improve safety and security. Klein’s office said the bar has failed to hire properly licensed security personnel and criminal activity, including nine unspecified violent crimes, have occurred at the bar.

As part of the agreement with the city, the bar has agreed to initiate last call at 12:30 a.m. and close by 1 a.m. on any day it is open for operation before closing. The bar will also have licensed security on the premises until all the bar’s patrons have left the parking lot and the immediate area around the bar and will keep a towing contract in place for the removal of any cars left on the bar’s property after hours. The bar owners are also required to meet regularly with the city and Columbus police to discuss compliance and concerns.

After Cain’s Sports Bar closes, the agreement calls for the location’s liquor license to be put into safekeeping by the state’s liquor licensing agency until it can be transferred to a new owner or operator

bbruner@gannett.com

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