Village Cuts Deal With Gaslight Bar Owner To Close And Leave Oak Lawn

OAK LAWN, IL — The Village of Oak Lawn has reached a tentative agreement with the new owner of the Gaslight Bar, which had its liquor license temporarily suspended this week after two bar patrons were accused of causing a fatal accident after spending the evening at the bar.

The new owner of the Gaslight (also known as On the Rocks), Felicia Phillips, has agreed to voluntarily relinquish her liquor and business license, and close the business, village officials said. In exchange for not seeking to reopen in Oak Lawn, the village has agreed not to impose fines against the bar for 17 liquor license violations.

Prior to Sunday’s deadly accident that claimed the life of a 66-year-old Calumet Park woman and critically injured her 30-year-old son, the current bar owner had already been ordered to appear before the village’s liquor commission Aug, 30.

Steven Bradford, 39, and Joann McNary, 32, have both been charged with aggravated DUI causing death and reckless homicide. Witnesses told police Bradford was going 110 mph when he crashed into the rear of Tomas Chacon’s Lincoln at 110th Street and Cicero Avenue, forcing the vehicle into the oncoming lane of traffic. The Lincoln was hit head on by a Dodge Ram, killing his mother, Maria Anita Chacon.

McNary’s Honda Accord left the roadway and rolled over several times. Oak Lawn police said both drivers admitted to drinking at the Gaslight earlier in the evening.

“We’ve been negotiating a settlement with the principals,” said Mayor Terry Vorderer, who also acts as the village’s liquor commissioner. “I won’t fine them. We’ll announce the settlement [at the hearing].”

Since the bar’s grand opening July 10, when two bartenders got into a fight over shorted tips that ended with one reportedly pulling a gun on the other, village officials say the bar has been a source of serious and ongoing problems. The flood of complaints from nearby residents prompted the mayor to call a liquor commission hearing, July 26. The owner’s attorney asked for a 30-day continuance, so he could review the charges.

Permit parking was quickly pushed through by the Oak Lawn Village Board for residents in the 9300 and 9400 blocks of Tulley Avenue to help alleviate parking issues, with new signs going up this week. Residents have complained all summer about noise, parking, public cannabis use and property damage. Many claim they saw last weekend’s tragedy coming.

“The village kept telling us there was a process,” a neighbor told Patch, who wished to remain anonymous. “They had enough cases to revoke the bar’s license. It took a fatality to end the process.”