Gunshots At Intimo Lounge Convince Tinley Woman To Start Petition

TINLEY PARK, IL — A Tinley Park resident has started an online petition asking for police to work with the owners of Intimo Lounge to establish safety measures that would curb the rowdy crowds and violence that has spilled out of the martini bar on weekends. The petition was started Monday following an incident early Sunday at Intimo.

Tinley Park police responded to a disturbance at the nightclub, 7068 W. 183rd St., just before 2 a.m. Sunday, May 20, according to a village statement released Monday. About 60 people were involved in altercation, but the crowd dispersed once officers arrived.

During this incident, a Cook County police dispatch received a call concerning possible shots fired at Dendrino's, a bar about a block away from Intimo, according to the village. Officers left the martini bar to head to 18300 S. Oak Park Ave., but they found no signs of gun play once they arrived.

Three spent .45-caliber shell casings, however, were found near a shared lot in front of Intimo. In her online petition at Change.org, Amy DeLise, who lives in the Tinley Pointe Centre condos above the lounge, said she heard someone in the crowd outside Intimo threaten to get a gun before she saw that individual fire three shots in the air.

"I was so surprised and frightened that I ducked and went back into my home," DeLise wrote in the explanation of her petition. "It is then that I decided to grab my phone to call the police and start recording the situation."

Police said they will be using that video, which DeLise posted on Facebook, as it continues its investigation into the incident.

WATCH: Amy DeLise's video of the disturbance Sunday at Intimo Lounge. (WARNING: Video contains harsh language.)

This wasn't the first time police were called to Intimo early Sunday. Officers had been at Intimo earlier at around 12:30 a.m. after a complaint was made about loud music coming from a vehicle outside the establishment. No vehicle playing loud music was found once they arrived.

Those continuing disturbances are what led DeLise to start her online petition. She told Patch on Monday that the problems at Intimo, which opened in April 2008, have been going on for at least three years. Those incidents have prompted her to call police several times before Sunday's altercation and gunshots, DeLise said.

In her online petition, which so far has more than 20 signatures, DeLise is asking Intimo's owner, Tinley park police and village officials "to take into account the activity occurring outside of this lounge and collaborate on a solution before someone is hurt or killed"

"It is clear that the activity and amount of people involved have ballooned to a situation that the local police department and establishment are not currently equipped to handle," she wrote on the petition's page. "We ask that you sign this petition so we may raise awareness and ask the village, police department and establishment owner to explore and implement preventative safety measures, training and increased patrol to mitigate the risks and monitor the situation before it is too late."

As investigators continue to look into what caused the latest incident at the bar, Mayor Jacob Vandenberg said Monday that the village will be working closely with police to go over security procedures to make sure all possible safety measures are in place.

"It’s critically important that we can be assured that our business owners work collaboratively with law enforcement officers to protect the safety and security of our residents and visitors," he said in a statement.

Vandenberg added that he was "perplexed" that police weren't alerted sooner to Sunday's disturbance at Intimo.

"From a community policing perspective, we need to rely on our bar owners and bystanders to take responsibility for reporting any incidents they see," he said. "The best deterrent of crime is a watchful eye from bystanders."

Go to Change.org to sign Amy DeLise's online petition.

Tinley Park police were called to break up a disturbance early Sunday, May 20, at Intimo Lounge. Gunshots were heard by at least one resident in the condos above the nightclub, and police found spent bullet casings nearby. (Screen shot via video by Amy DeLise)