D.C. Alcohol Board Suspends Shaw Bar’s Liquor License After Assault

A Shaw bar that had an assault last week can’t serve booze for now after D.C. regulators suspended its liquor license yesterday, according to District officials.

Karma Lounge and Bar at 1936 9th St. NW is barred from selling alcohol indefinitely, according to D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board notices posted on its windows. But the panel is scheduled to hold a hearing to review its decision Thursday.

The suspension came after D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier last Thursday ordered Karma closed until the board could make a determination on whether to suspend the bar’s alcohol license, held by a man named Terfneh Kahsay, according to ABRA documents.

Kahsay owned the bar’s previous occupant, Salina Restaurant, which was the scene of a homicide in 2010. But he never transferred the liquor license to Efrem Alazar, who bought the business in November and started calling it Karma.

Borderstan’s efforts to reach a Karma representative for comment weren’t immediately successful.

The victim in the assault was eating and drinking at a table in Karma when somebody hurled a bottle at his head and then ran from the bar, police said.

The man was brought to a local hospital for treatment. But no Karma employee appeared to call police, according to an ABRA investigator.

The ABRA official also reported that the bar’s security cameras were inoperable and blood at the scene of the assault was cleaned up before police could investigate, ABRA documents show.

Authorities haven’t released a description of the suspect.