Steakhouse in Westmoreland County shut down days after 2 people shot outside
A Westmoreland County restaurant labeled by county leaders as a nuisance bar was shut down Friday.
Sweeney’s Steakhouse has been the subject of recent violent incidents.
County leaders said the shutdown order came after the owner of the bar signed a consent agreement to avoid the county pursuing civil action in front of a judge.
”To anyone planning on going to Sweeney’s over the Fourth of July holiday or beyond, your plans have now changed. The establishment is currently closed,” District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said.
That was the message to patrons at Sweeney’s in Rostraver Township Friday afternoon.
”This is the only way to abate the problems that have brought violence to this community and placed law enforcement officers in grave danger,” Ziccarelli said.
Since 2020, Rostraver Township police said they have had over two dozen incidents stemming from Sweeney’s bar alone. The latest was a shooting over the weekend where two people were shot at the bar.
The chief said his lone two officers encountered a mob crowd when they got to the scene and tried to help the victims.
“They’re trying to render aid to one of the victims on the ground with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. That was something I talked to Nicole Ziccarelli (about), she made it clear they cannot open again,” Chief John Christner said.
Debra Hardy has owned the bar for 26 years and posted a statement earlier this week.
She said she was voluntarily shutting the bar down, and it had been up for sale for a year.
However, county leaders said the process of closing the bar had already been in motion since the weekend shooting, and it was expedited with help from the liquor control board.
”I can’t speak to what the owner’s perspective was, but I can tell you that over the weekend when we spoke, we went into action right away on Monday. We’ve been working on it since last weekend and haven’t let up,” Ziccarelli said.
County leaders said they are hoping this helps protect not only first responders, but the community overall.
”The community had a tremendous outcry and they really wanted to get something done, and we were able to make something happen and make Rostraver and Belle Vernon a lot safer for it,” Ziccarelli said.
Channel 11 reached out to Hardy, who said there are a lot of rumors going around and said she would get back shortly with a comment.
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