MACON, Ga. — A Macon convenience store now faces a 90-day alcohol license revocation and a court date, all in about a week.
Bibb County officials call the M&M Food Mart on Montpelier Avenue a 'magnet for crime,' and they say it's getting worse. Around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sheriff David Davis personally served the owner of the M&M with a letter revoking their alcohol license, possibly until September.
Inside the store, Davis found a Bible. He held it up, and suggested the store employees read it.
"Whatever religious guidance book that they may have, and study that a little bit," he said. "And this might be a more peaceful corner."
Davis says crime near the store is a growing problem. It's one he thought was resolved when the store closed for a few weeks in the fall.
"Because of the ongoing circumstances here, it was decided to be prudent for us to go ahead and suspend this license," he explained.
The decision comes as the county announced Wednesday they would take the store owners back to court. Mayor Lester Miller says the store saw a significant drop in crime while the store was shuttered, but he believes it started coming back because the owners aren't complying with the court.
"[The] 911 calls came in, and I think there's been some 72 shots fired in that area, according to the information that we believe, since they started not following that order of the court," he said.
Per Judge David Mincey's October court order, the owners were supposed to close the store at 11 p.m., post 'No Loitering' signs and remove people from the property if they stay more than 10 minutes.
"At some point in time, the video shows someone putting a paper sign on the door saying they're closed. But they continue to let people in," Miller said.
He says the goal is to try and close the place permanently because he believes it will make the neighborhood safer.
Wednesday morning, the county announced a new order from Judge Mincey, declaring the store must close between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. They cite 90 pages of emergency calls from the area around the store in the past few months, and 72 rounds fired nearby since March.
The store's owner, Bhanu Partap, declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.