The Colorado Springs liquor board issued last call Friday for El Imperio, a nightclub with a track record tainted by brawls, gunfire and drugs.After a six-hour hearing, the board voted unanimously to revoke the club’s liquor license.The board found that El Imperio committed eleven violations of the city’s liquor laws, including serving alcohol to a minor, laundering money and involvement in narcotic transaction. The club, at 550 S. Academy Blvd., was told to immediately stop serving alcohol.

 To make its case, the city argued that Lucio Vazquez, who was entangled in a drug ring that emerged in April, acted as an owner and manager of the club. Sixta Valdivinos is the official licensee of El Imperio.

Police detectives reviewed dozens of Vazquez’s phone conversations intercepted by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. An officer testified Friday that the wiretap revealed El Imperio as a central point of contact for the exchange of cocaine and methamphetamine.Vazquez is now in federal custody.The liquor board agreed that Valdivinos, who was present at the hearing, was at fault.“If you can’t control your premises you shouldn’t be in business,” board member Mike Nemeth said during the hearing.Damon Cassens, the attorney for the nightclub, said the wiretap conversations “lacked liability.”“I’m disappointed with the board’s decision,” Cassens said. “The evidence was the worst kind of hearsay that’s kept out of every kind of court in the lands.”The board agreed, though, that the hefty list of violations was enough to close El Imperio’s taps.“I would not be comfortable with anything besides a revocation,” board chairman Charles Stephens said.The board found El Imperio also violated bookkeeping and alcohol purchase practices. Testimony showed the club purchased more than $40,000 worth of alcohol from a liquor store — thousands more than the legal $500 limit of retail alcohol purchases allowed in one year.Board member Dawn Lloyd recalled Valdivinos as a “good lady” when she initially applied for her liquor license.Cassens said he’s still discussing an appeal with his client.—Call the writer: 636-0238

A bear was spotted in a Monument neighborhood on Friday. Photo by Courtesy of Levon Christophel