Another Black Eye for The Page

The beating death of a Dover man at The Page Sports Bar and Restaurant on Saturday is the latest in a string of assaults that have occurred either inside the Hanover Street establishment or right outside at the Vaughn Mall.

But now that police have made an arrest in connection with the death of Joshua Krantz, 24, of Dover on Saturday, April 6, they are not sure what culpability, if any, The Page may bear.

Here is a rundown of some of assaults that have happened at The Page and Vaughn Mall during the last two years:

• April 6, 2013: by a male suspect. Police say Krantz later went home to his Dover apartment before he was found dead from a fractured skull sometime later.

• August 2012: The Page is cited for alcohol violations by New Hampshire Liquor Commission enforcement agents after state agency investigators and Portsmouth Police found there were three people who were allowed to enter the establishment with fake IDs and restaurant staff were observed drinking alcohol while on duty.

• July 2012: Portsmouth Police reported a male victim was found unconscious outside of The Page with a fractured skull after he suffered a beating.

• February, 2012: Police say a woman was assaulted by a male suspect at knifepoint, beaten and robbed of her purse in Vaughn Mall.

• July 2011: by four people outside of The Page after an altercation between Bohn and one of the suspects spills over to the Vaughn Mall.

On the Portsmouth Patch Facebook page, several city residents said The Page should be shut down.

"...when are they going to shut this place down? my son ended up in icu after getting his head kicked into the curb while lying on the icy road and repeatedly kicked in the head and chest. and this was when it as called bananas. the place needs shut down. NOW!" wrote Deborah DeGenova.

Lisa Gentile McRae wrote, "This is horrible news. Beautiful young man in our community who should be alive. Shut down that establishment if we can't keep people safe."

Chris Therrien summed up the troubles at The Page this way, "The place is cursed."

Other city residents took it a step further, launching a "Shut The Page Down" Facebook page.

When asked if The Page could be held responsible for the beating death of Krantz, Portsmouth Deputy Police Chief Corey MacDonald said, "I don't necessarily know if there is culpability for The Page with what happened here."

MacDonald did acknowledge that police have had to respond to numerous assaults and beatings that have either started at The Page and spilled over to the Vaughn Mall pedestrian area or happened in Vaughn Mall.

"The Vaughn Mall area and certainly The Page is definitely high on our radar," he said.

Ultimately, it is up to the community to decide what it wishes to tolerate, he said.

"We enforce the community standards and that is sort of our role in this," he said.

With so many restaurants and bars located in the downtown that scores of people patronize each weekend, MacDonald said police find it strange that they are constantly responding to The Page and Vaughn Mall area for these types of incidents.

Ted Mountzuris, co-owner of The Page, believes the problems that have occurred either inside his establishment on on the Vaughn Mall are more related to the pedestrian area. He and his business partner, John Dussi, are in the process of converting the downtown Stadium Lounge into a new 50-seat Italian-style restaurant as a way to pay tribute to the city's northern tier, which was known as Portsmouth's Little Italy for many years.

If the Vaughn Mall were revamped with new brick sidewalks and better lighting or turned into a street where people could drive, Mountzuris believes the city would see far fewer problems.

He predicts that if The Page gets rid of the Stadium Lounge, the crowd that likes to go out and drink and dance will simply migrate to another establishment.

"I think The Page is a good establishment." Mountzuris said.

City Attorney Robert Sullivan doesn't believe the city wants to take any action against The Page at this time, "but there could be a time" if the problems persist.

Sullivan said the city has taken action before when it had an establishment known as Club Spin where a number of violent assaults occurred about 10 years ago. The former nightclub was located in the basement of the Portsmouth Health Foods store on Congress Street.

The city worked with the New Hampshire Liquor Commission's Enforcement bureau to have Club Spin's liquor license revoked.

"Without a liquor license, that type of business cannot stay open," he said.