Randolph nightclub installs metal detector

As part of its stepped-up security, a North Main Street nightclub has installed a walk-through metal detector to screen its patrons for weapons.

Tad Bonvie, owner of The Vault Room at 326 N. Main St., outlined the new security measures in a letter to selectmen requesting a postponement of a disciplinary hearing for the nightclub. The board Monday night agreed to continue the hearing until June 9 because Bonvie’s attorney is out of the country.

In addition to the metal detector, the club has agreed to increase the number of police officers on paid details from two to four, install security cameras, reduce its capacity by 10 percent to 350 and halt alcohol sales at 1:20 a.m.

Police Chief Paul Porter requested the disciplinary hearing after two disturbances at the club that required calling in officers from other departments and the State Police.

“Both of these calls were violent in nature and required mutual aid from other communities,” Porter wrote in a letter to the selectmen requesting the hearing.

A Randolph man was stabbed when a fight broke out in the club March 30. No arrest has been made.

On Feb. 18, a fight among a group of women resulted in one arrest during the club’s opening weekend.

Selectmen Chairman Paul Connors said he and Porter met with Bonvie earlier this month to discuss security at the nightclub.

“We wanted to see some steps taken to make sure the matter has been addressed,” Connors said.

Added Selectman James Burgess, “I don’t think any of us has been comfortable with what’s been going on” at the club.

Porter, who did not attend Monday’s selectmen’s meeting, said incidents like the ones at The Vault Room “threaten the public safety,” not only of the town, but in nearby communities whose officers are sent to Randolph.

In both cases, all available Randolph police officers, as well as those on private details, went to the club. Officers from Avon, Braintree, Holbrook, Milton and State Police responded to one or both incidents.

Two police officers were working paid details inside the club at the time of both incidents.

The Vault Room opened at the site of the former Copa Grande Oasis. Bonvie had operated the Copa Grande for about a decade.

A fatal shooting took place in the club’s parking lot Jan. 30, 2005.

The suspect in the shooting, Carlos DePina, 28, is still at large and is believed to have fled to his native Cape Verde. Two men who were charged with helping DePina flee the scene were acquitted by a jury after a 2006 trial in Norfolk Superior Court.

The selectmen can take disciplinary action against the club’s liquor, food and entertainment licenses, such as suspending them for a period of time or imposing an earlier closing time.