RAID!

You will recall that Jud & I set the Over / Under on our group's interaction with Law Enforcement at 3.5 and, as of late night Saturday we were sitting on 3. As we were leaving the reggae band at Caribbee Key we kept pestering our cab driver for some place that was still open as J'Ville shuts down at 2:00am SHARP. He radioed in to Dispatch and said, "I got these guys, they want to go out more. Is there anywhere within 500 miles I could take them?" Dispatch was not amused and told him to call on the cell phone, which he did. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that! I'll take them there!"So we were dropped off at "Club Filter" - a supposed after-hours joint (which we naturally assumed was legal, holding an after hours license of some kind). Given the size of our group, we had to take two cabs. I went in and paid the cover charge for everyone in our group as Dave & Craig were still en route. We went to the bar, ordered beers, and sat on a couch. It became very obvious that we stood out. (None of us have neck tattoos.) It was reminiscent of the bar in Tarantino's "From Dusk 'Til Dawn" -- and so Rep & I loved it.

Matt H. leaned over to me and said, "This is the kind of bar where people get shot." JUST AFTER he said that, the door flew open as 15 police officers, 6 wearing ninja masks (!!) and at least one federal agent, stormed the place. Half of the bar put their hands in the air, having obviously been through this drill before. They controlled the bar, including an outburst by the Men's Room, and were looking for someone named "Nate" who they quickly found, subdued, and cuffed. Additionally, a bouncer who allegedly tried to run was cuffed and searched also, upon whom they found a pistol. (They didn't even LOOK ONCE at our group. Surprising given our obvious street cred with no tattoos and wearing collared shirts.) One of the officers said, "May I have your attention?"

"You've already got it."

"Anyone who doesn't work here is free to leave." And so we quickly did. As Dave had yet to arrive, he was outside with a waiting cab which we happily jumped in. Rep had called Dave previous to this saying, "It looks fine, the parking lot is full, come on down!" but Dave had to drop Craig at home. As everything was happening, Dave was calling Rep and Rep was certainly NOT going to reach in his pocket to answer. Instead, after things calmed down he texted 3 times, "Stay away!"

So we left and Morgan said, "You know, I felt a lot safer when the police showed up. I was like, 'Oh thank God! The police!'"

You can tell you are in a great bar when the POLICE RAID makes you feel SAFER.


Couldn't wait to return home. I have to say, Jacksonville does not play and we'd like to thank it's multiple members of the Law Enforcement community for being fair and showing us quite a time. Have no idea why they were there this night, but hopefully they accomplished their mission. As Rep said as we exited, "Worth every penny!"