Licenses Committee recommends revocation of Gas and Food licenses after series of shootings and robberies

The Licenses Committee voted unanimously Jan. 31, 2025 to recommend revocation of multiple city licenses for Gas and Food, 4295 North Titonia Avenue, following testimony about an April–August 2023 series of violent incidents at the business and apparent noncompliance with an amended plan of operation.

Chair Jocasta Samaripa convened the special, remanded hearing on file 240903. Sergeant Guadalupe Velasquez of the Milwaukee Police Department summarized police reports showing repeated calls for service: a shots-fired call on Nov. 11, 2022; armed robberies on Feb. 8 and April 14, 2023; a June 22, 2023 incident in which officers said suspects fled after a clerk reported shots fired and three rounds were discharged; and an Aug. 16, 2023 shooting at the site in which officers say the victim was shot by a store employee. Velasquez told the committee the property had been placed under nuisance designation, completed a 45-day abatement monitoring period in May 2023, and that a new nuisance letter was drafted in August 2023 after the fatal incident.

Gurinder Nagra, the agent for 4295 N. Titonia Ave., and his attorney, Emilvia Galey, told the committee this was a remanded hearing that revisited earlier 2023 proceedings. Counsel said the applicant was prepared to reduce extended hours — closing at midnight in June–August and 2 a.m. in other months — and to hire a "licensed and bonded security officer between the hours of 9 and close." Counsel said the business had previously cooperated with police and provided surveillance video and suspect descriptions.

Neighbors and family members who testified urged revocation. Natalie Easter Allen, whose son was killed at the site, said commitments made at a prior hearing — to hire security, change hours and improve cameras — were not fulfilled. She told the committee, "I don't believe him or his attorney." Other witnesses described congregation, ongoing public-safety concerns near the corner, and said the neighborhood had felt safer since the location was closed.

Committee members questioned compliance with a prior amendment to the plan of operation. Fabiola Lopez, licensing staff, said the committee record for the prior renewal included an amendment noting a security guard and vehicle "during the hours of operation." Committee members asked whether the business had actually implemented that commitment; testimony indicated the person later charged in the Aug. 16 homicide, William Pinkett, had been hired primarily for cleaning and lot-monitoring and was not on duty as a professional security guard at the time of the fatal shooting.

Officer David Klein, who responded to the Aug. 16 scene, told the committee he and other officers performed life-saving measures but said he could not identify a specific action the gas station could have taken to have prevented that particular homicide. Licensing staff and committee members, however, pointed to a pattern of crimes and the absence of a documented, implemented security program as a reason for regulatory action.

Alderman Scott Speicher moved for revocation, citing the police reports, resident testimony, and "failure to comply with the approved plan of operation." The motion passed on a 5–0 roll call. Chair Samaripa said the committee will prepare a report of its findings and recommendations for the Milwaukee Common Council; the applicant may file written exceptions by Feb. 5, 2025, and the Common Council will consider the matter Feb. 11, 2025.

The committee's recommendation does not itself revoke licenses; it forwards a report and recommendation to the full Common Council, which makes the final decision. The committee record includes the police reports cited in testimony, the applicant's mitigation proposal, witness statements from neighbors and family members, and licensing staff notes that the plan of operation had been amended in April 2023 to indicate security during hours of operation but that onsite implementation was disputed.

The committee's action reflects the licensing body's statutory role in weighing public-safety evidence, compliance with plan-of-operation commitments, and community testimony before recommending licensing outcomes to the Common Council.