Intimo Lounge Business License Suspended After Drive-By Shooting

TINLEY PARK, IL — The Tinley Park Licensing Committee has voted to suspend the business license of Intimo Lounge, after five gunshots were fired into the facility during a drive-by on Thursday.

Police said officers got to the lounge around 11:54 p.m. Thursday after someone drove past and fired five gunshots inside. The bullets shattered several windows, but nobody was injured, police said. The car fled before police could catch the person who fired the shots.

On Friday, Mayor Jacob Vandenberg, who is also the liquor commissioner, authorized the temporary closing of the lounge for a week, to "ensure no threat to the welfare of the community."

At Tuesday evening's meeting, the committee voted to suspend the lounge's business license for 21 days, the maximum amount of time it could. In order to suspend the license, the board had to appoint a hearing officer, who will take a further look at the business.

The third party hearing officer will bring any evidence and recommendations to the village board for a formal hearing, where a vote will determine if license revocation is necessary. The committee has appointed Austin Zimmer of Del Galdo Law Group, LLC to the job.

The business, located at 7068 W. 183rd St. Tinley Park, has had about 34 "calls for service" since November, according to the Licensing Committee.

"The current operations of Intimo are not only a nuisance, but they're a threat to the health, welfare and safety of patrons, residents and [other] businesses around," the committee said.

The drive-by is not the only factor playing into the call for a hearing. In 2018, Tinley Park police were called to break up a disturbance. Gunshots were heard by at least one resident in the condos above the nightclub, and police found spent bullet casings nearby.

No date has been set for a hearing yet.

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