Saint Just residents ask authorities to close controversial discotheque

La Gerencia Discotheque in Trujillo Alto’s Saint Just sector

By The Star Staff

The Highway 848 Residents Association of Trujillo Alto’s Saint Just neighborhood again asked authorities to close the La Gerencia Discotheque and asked the island Department of Justice and federal agencies to investigate state and municipal police who have intervened in criminal incidents and complaints from neighbors without resolving the issue.

“On July 2, 2022, there was a violent shooting at these facilities where about 60 bullet casings, an expensive Rolex watch -- that had been thrown on the floor -- and a hat of a recognized brand were collected,” said Eulegio Vivaldi, a spokesman for the residents association, in a press release. “The shooting was caused by a ‘drug dealer’ who came to the scene once a week.”

Vivaldi alleged that the crime scene was altered by a police agent who had been hired to guard the entrance to the business.

“Although the State and Municipal Police responded to the scene of the shooting, there was never any arrest of those responsible,” he said. “Weeks later there was another shooting where the police went and there was no arrest either.”

However, what is most striking, the spokesman added, is the fact that just a week ago, a “task force” headed by the island Treasury Department raided the establishment and found that the business never had use permits, did not have the documentation for the collection and payment of the sales and use tax, and although they charged their clients they never sent the collections to the Treasury Department, he said.

“In the raid on the discotheque, the Treasury [officials] discovered that the business does not have a license to operate ($1,500 fine), did not exhibit the original license it never had ($1,500 fine), operated multiple entertainment [gaming] machines without licenses ($2,000 fine), did not have a license for the sale of cigarettes ($500 fine), and did not have permits and IVU [sales and use tax] certificate ($500 fine),” Vivaldi said in the communication.

The spokesman enumerated several other substantial fines and said “the total fines imposed in the raid added up to $55,000.00.”