PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor and other South Side leaders are calling for Capo’s Bar to be shut down as the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office moves forward with a nuisance bar petition.
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A petition filed Tuesday alleges that since Capo’s opened in May 2024, the East Carson Street bar has been the site of persistent criminal activity and violence.
The filing cites 42 police incidents between March 2025 and August 2026, including fights, assaults, intoxicated people needing hospitalization and underage drinking.
The most recent incident happened Aug. 8.
Police say 37-year-old Larry Pappy Johnson dragged an unconscious woman from outside Capo’s, where she had been thrown out by a bouncer, into a lot off South 14th Street. Investigators say surveillance cameras captured the woman being sexually assaulted and robbed.
Johnson was arrested days later in New York.
Mayor O’Connor said he believes the bar should be shut down.
“In my opinion, it should be directly shut down,” O’Connor said.
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The district attorney’s office said it negotiated terms of a consent agreement with the bar’s owners and representatives, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and Liquor Code Enforcement.
The agreement must still be signed by a judge before it can be released publicly. The DA’s office said it expects the order could be signed as early as Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the court’s availability.
The DA’s office said it will also communicate the petition and consent agreement to Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Lando for review and possible submission to the mayor’s office.
Councilperson Bob Charland, who represents the South Side, said he would like to see the bar shut down.
“I’d like to see the DA use his power, which is a 611 action, to shut the bar down, padlock the bar, and hopefully take their liquor license away,” Charland said.
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A group of South Side business leaders is also calling for Capo’s to close.
In an open letter, the group wrote that it supports a vibrant South Side and understands the importance of the neighborhood’s nighttime economy.
But the letter argues that bars operating in a densely populated neighborhood have an obligation to operate responsibly.
“At some point, remediation stops being a remedy and becomes another postponement of accountability,” the letter states.
Charland said he is skeptical that changes to the bar’s operations will be enough.
“I have been told things like retraining staff, making sure they aren’t letting in minors — just basic things a bar should be doing anyway — and I don’t believe it’s actually going to change behavior here,” he said.
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