The Point's most brutal bar - an exclusive report

   The Do Drop In, a now-closed neighbourhood bar at 1867 Wellington in the Point wasn't for sissies. I have obtained a government report that details the smashive-aggressive violence that went on in this hangout for hoods and thugs.
   The bar was owned by Carol Gingera,who also owns a corner store nearby on Wellington.

   She shut the bar down around Christmas 2005, but was brought onto the carpet by the booze bureaucrats February 28, 2006. 

   The Regie des Alcools Courses et Jeux (the provincial body which regulates booze, racing and gambling) wanted to decide whether the chronic misadventures inside her bar should preclude her from holding a grocery permit for her depanneur. Ultimately her depanneur license was not revoked.
   A shooting took place a block away in plain daylight on 1 April 2005. A couple of black guys came down with guns blazing, killing one young drug dealer named Alexandre Desmarais and also injuring Lawrence Cooney, aka Larry Cooney. Both shooting victims were regulars at the bar. The dead victim's goods were later placed around the bar as a memorial.
   A source close to the deceased tells me that the young victim was a nice young guy and was not the intended target of the shooting. Cooney, meanwhile, had survived a previous shooting in June 2003 in Chateauguay. Police considered it likely that another attack would occur.
   Cooney continued hanging around the Do Drop In, standing around in front, sitting inside or upstairs in the apartment. Others known-to-police, such as Richard Matticks, an aging member of the West End Gang, were regulars. Matticks - a member of the legendary clan long suspected of controlling much naughtiness at Montreal's port - would even receive phone calls on the bar telephone.
   Armed attacks - some including guns - repeatedly took place in the bar. According to the government report, the victims were almost all too scared to press charges. On 29 April 2003 a victim was beaten but refused to make an official complaint for fear of reprisal. Again 31 May, same thing, Cooney was present and possibly involved in these affairs. On 3 December 2004 a client told police he was attacked by three people and beaten with a chair and punched and kicked upon entering the Do Drop In. He had a broken leg and 2 broken ankles. He too zipped his lip. One known criminal was suspected, according to the report.
   Three people were assaulted on December 7, 2004. No complaints. The window of the bar was smashed. The manager Wesley Gingera (the owner's son) was inside working the bar. The doorman and Brandon were suspected by police in the assaults.
   Another complained of a beating on 27 Feb 2005. On 3 May 2005 police received a complaint about an aggressive pit bull roaming in the bar. The dog had killed a cat in the back yard of the establishment. No witnesses came forward to to make an official complaint about the affair, according to the report, it was due to fear of reprisal.

   On 13 May 2005 a mother told police her that cocaine-addict son, who lived upstairs from the bar, had been beaten up in the establishment two days prior. Twelve days later cops found a baseball bat concealed inside a cupboard near the entrance. Coooney allegedly threatened a passerby waiting for a taxi near the bar with a gun and then returned to the bar on August 27, 2005. Cooney faced weapons and assault charges from the incident.
   The owner Carol Gingera (who may or may not have been acting as owner in the place of another investor) - was never present when inspectors visited. The bartender, Lisha Soucy, usually worked alone. Carol's son, Wesley Gingera, managed the Do Drop In and told inspectors that he came in for about four hours a day. Gingera has criminal convictions for armed robbery and weapons charges from 1989.
   And there were drugs aplenty. Cops came on 22 April to answer a call about an armed man in the bar. Upon entering police witnessed a client rolling a joint at the pool table. The waitress, Soucy had three bags of marijuana on her. Two months later cops found 6 marijuana butts behind the bar. And in October they found several empty bags with drug residue inside the pool table and 11 bags of quarter gram were taken from someone present. Cartons of cigarettes were found out back. There were also repeated instances of unlabeled booze found on the premises.
   The report also stated lesser violations, such as the fact that prices weren't listed and the fire exit was often locked.