A San Francisco judge has made it that much harder for Tenderloin delis to be one-stop shops for sandwiches, crack, and a hooker.
Today, Judge Harold E. Kahn ordered a 2-year injunction at Barah's Market, located on the corner of Leavenworth and Turk streets, and said it has 45 months to pay $30,000 in penalties to the city.
"Barah's Market played a central role in drug dealing and related crimes that victimized its neighbors for too long, and the court acknowledged that the evidence of their lawlessness was overwhelming," said City Attorney Dennis Herrera. "I hope the penalties and tough injunctions we obtained in these two Tenderloin drug abatement cases send a clear message about the steep price businesses will pay for facilitating drug-related crime."
Herrera had filed a lawsuit against the notorious
market in January, claiming the deli was selling more crack and heroin than
turkey and cheese sandwiches. In addition, the market was trafficking in stolen merchandise, he said.
The injunction is an extension of a preliminary order that Herrera secured in March, which forced the market to cease all public nuisance activities (i.e. drug deals) and to close every night at midnight -- and stay closed for business until 7 a.m. On top of that, the market has to shell out money for licensed and uniformed security guards and maintain a video surveillance. Also, the market owners are required to post notices, informing drug dealers that their work is no longer welcome there.
Today's injunction covers that for another two years, and says that if the market violates this, the city is allowed to close the business for up to one year.
In shot, the market must really, uh, crack down on its nefarious patrons.
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