CHICAGO — A bar in the Beverly neighborhood violated its liquor license by remaining open too late on the night Chicago Police officer Danny Golden was shot, according to city records obtained by WGN Investigates.
Golden, 32, was off-duty when he was shot in the back around 2:30 a.m. on July 9, 2022 in the 2400 block of West 104th Street. Prosecutors said the six-year CPD veteran was with family and friends inside Sean’s Rhino Bar and Grill, 10330 S. Western Ave., when three men entered and soon got into a fight with other patrons.
According to Cook County prosecutors, after the confrontation moved outside, Golden tried to play peacemaker, but one of the three men shot him in the back, paralyzing him from the waist down.
The three men were all charged in the shooting, and their cases are still pending.
City inspectors soon found that the bar stayed open later than legally allowed when Golden was shot.
“Respondent was operating without the required liquor-late hour license, opening Friday night and staying open passed [sic] Saturday morning after 2:00 am on July 9, 2022,” a city inspector wrote after visiting the bar on July 22.
BACP records show another inspection occurred five days later, and the bar was again found to have stayed open too late. In September, the bar’s owner, Dennis Shaughnessy, had two dates scheduled with the city’s Department of Administrative Hearings.
The disposition of those hearings was not immediately known, but public real estate listings show that the bar, which opened in 1999, was put up for sale on Oct. 7, 2022.
Shaughnessy could not be reached for comment.
In March 2022, inspectors also cited the bar for operating without liquor liability insurance, city records show.
