Eugene police arrested former University football player Junior Siavii for assault in the early morning of Jan. 9, making him the third high-profile University student to be arrested or cited for assault following incidents at Taylor’s Bar and Grill in the past eight months.
Siavii’s arrest — along with the citations issued to former football player Keith Lewis in May 2003 for punching a track athlete and to ASUO Vice President Eddy Morales in September 2003 for allegedly assaulting a female student — has prompted questions about the frequency of violence at the popular night spot in the University area, which is located at 894 E. 13th Ave.
According to Eugene Police Department reports, police recorded a total of 16 calls for fights or assaults at Taylor’s in 2002 and 2003, with a total of five for non-physical disputes and four for disorderly individuals.
In contrast, Rennie’s Landing, another popular bar at 1214 Kincaid St., recorded only two calls for fights, three for non-physical disputes and three for disorderly individuals in the same time period.
Taylor’s owner Chuck Hare said fights are uncommon at his bar, but they draw attention because Taylor’s attracts well-known members of the campus community.
“It’s just been kind of unfortunate that the last couple of things we’ve had involved high-profile people,” Hare said. “I can tell you that every other bar in town has more problems than we have.”
EPD spokeswoman Pam Olshanski said Taylor’s is not what the department considers a problem spot.
“We have no establishment in the community that we would consider a problem establishment,” she said. Taylor’s has “a very different call volume (compared to Rennie’s Landing), and my assumption would be there’s a larger number of people going in. Clearly, whenever you have an establishment that is attractive to large numbers of people and alcohol is being served, your risk factors increase.”
Hare said doormen form lines outside to keep the occupancy less than the 250-person capacity to prevent conflicts between patrons.
Olshanski said many of the calls from Taylor’s to EPD are for incidents occurring outside on the street or sidewalk, some of which had nothing to do with the bar.
Taylor’s manager Justin Walker said doormen will often go out on the street to help contain the situation or assist police in breaking up fights. Because the bar is located in a central location, on the corner of East 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street, more people tend to congregate there, resulting in more conflicts, he said.
Dan Geyer, who has managed Rennie’s Landing for the past 10 years, said Rennie’s avoids the “tension” of East 13th Avenue, resulting in fewer incidents.
Also, Rennie’s tries to have enough employees working to intervene in fights before they escalate, he said, adding that the bar has enough space to spread people out and prevent overcrowding. Fights often start over “silly things,” like when people bump into each other or spill their drinks, Geyer said.
Chris Grow, a business student at the University, said he has never personally witnessed any altercations at Taylor’s, but he has heard stories about them in the past.
Alex Nevarez, a senior Spanish major, said he stopped going to Taylor’s for a variety of reasons, but not because of fighting. Nevarez said he has seen verbal arguments between drunk people with “big egos,” but he has never seen a physical fight there. Olshanski said Taylor’s has a cooperative relationship with EPD. Employees of the bar frequently check identification cards to ensure patrons are 21 and older, and bartenders have been known to refuse serving alcohol to individuals who have had too much to drink, she said. Many of the calls to EPD came from employees at the bar, Olshanski added.
Geyer said since Hare took over at Taylor’s, the establishment has improved dramatically.
“It’s gotten a lot better than it used to be. The prior ownership didn’t take nearly the steps that (Hare)’s taken … ,” Geyer said.
Hare agreed, saying there is no longer a problem with his bar.
“There’s not a problem,” said Hare, who has owned Taylor’s for about five years. “It’s frustrating that I even have to adjudicate my name when there’s not a problem.”