By:Anthony Rifilato
This latest incident at Cousins Bar, at 2394 Grand Ave., comes after a number of shootings outside the bar within a span of three months in 2003.
Cousins owner Frank Wilson, 30, of 95 S. 24th St. in Wyandanch, was arrested on Feb. 21 after he allegedly pulled out a .40 caliber handgun and fired several rounds at a vehicle following an altercation he had with one of the passengers, police said.
"Apparently it stemmed from some kind of dispute inside the bar," said First Squad Detective Sgt. Roy Gorddart. "Someone fired off rounds inside."
Police said that shortly before 5 a.m., Wilson got involved in an argument with a patron in the bar. The verbal back-and-forth escalated, and the patron, whom police have not been able to identify, pulled out a handgun and fired several rounds, according to police reports. No one inside the bar was injured.
Gorddart said the shooter then ran out the back door of Cousins as Wilson chased him through an alley and around to the front of the bar on Grand Avenue. The man jumped into a waiting vehicle, and Wilson reportedly fired a few rounds as the car sped away.
When police arrived, Wilson was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second- and third-degree criminal use of a firearm, and first-degree reckless endangerment. He was arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead. Wilson did not return phone calls at press time.
Gorddart said police have not determined who the other shooter was or who was in the car, as patrons in the bar were less than cooperative. Police also do not know whether any of Wilson's gunshots struck the vehicle or if anyone in the fleeing car was injured.
A string of shootings outside Cousins last year sparked fears of gang activity in what many consider a troubled area of Baldwin.
Police said they are investigating whether the shooting is gang related, though they currently have no such evidence. "We are looking at that," said Gorddart. "Obviously that's a problem here."
In March 2003, a man was shot in the leg during a brawl behind Cousins, and in April a Freeport teen was shot in the face after an altercation in the parking lot. In June, another man was shot in the leg following an incident inside Cousins, and police have said those incidents may have been gang-related.
Wilson said in an interview last June 2003 that he was looking to change the bar's clientele and weed out belligerent club-goers by raising the age limit and screening patrons at the door. He also said that he did not want his establishment to become a haven for gang members. "A lot of times people get upset," he said, explaining why potential customers become confrontational when they are not allowed inside. "We turn a lot of people away."
